[GeekyBear]

> No, but the person who sent that message could get in trouble.

Is there some reason to imagine the person sending the message couldn't do so with burner email accounts or by abusing open/vulnerable email servers?

Has Google suddenly prevented spam from landing in your spam folder without anyone noticing?

It's much simpler to send email than it is to take control of someone's device.

[modernerd]

Right, the sender isn’t going to use their own email address in an attempt to incriminate you. My point was that receiving material by email from a stranger doesn’t make you liable for its contents (unless there is a record of you requesting the content). It makes the sender liable (if they can be traced).

Apple’s approach does not seem to provide the same safeguard. Your account will be flagged for review if there are n flagged images destined for upload on your device. The description of the process does not mention if or how provenance or intent to receive those images is established.

[Clubber]

I mean you think that would be how it works, but say a system found the image stored in your mail's temp directory and notified the police, do you think they would be that interested in finding the person who sent it, or do you think they would think, "You had kiddie porn on your phone, that's against the law. 30 years." Win.