Although the app, which facilitated the buying and selling of illegal sexual images, has shuttered, the trade itself continues. Who will take responsibility for the harm being caused?

(Illustration by qnel)

Album Collection, an app where child sexual abuse images and images of women taken without their consent are bought and sold, was ranked number one in the “Photos & Videos” category of Apple’s App Store in December 2023.

As its ranking rose, the number of child sexual abuse images in particular rapidly increased.

Album Collection’s operators did nothing to intervene, nor did Apple. Both Album Collection and Apple were earning processing fees on illegal transactions.

Ranked first, over Instagram and Youtube

Instagram ranked second and YouTube ranked fourth in the App Store’s “Photo & Video” category, which Album Collection had risen to the top of. Over the preceding few months, it had been hovering around 90th to 100th place, then suddenly rose in December 2023. On Dec. 13, it was ranked seventh among free apps overall.

The App Store does not disclose detailed information on how its rankings are determined, but it appears to be primarily based on the number of downloads. If an app’s ranking rises, it can be assumed that it’s reaching a larger number of users.

I didn’t know the reason behind Album Collection’s sudden rise in popularity.

On Dec. 11, 2023, Album Collection ranked first in the “Photo & Video” category.

Promotion on X also increased

In order to sell illegal images on Album Collection, users advertise on X (formerly Twitter), where anyone can see their posts. As the number of app downloads rose, promotional posts on X also appeared to be increasing.

I felt that one of the most common types of promotion was for videos containing child sexual abuse. Content that would previously have been posted in a secretive manner on the app’s message board is now being posted to X without hesitation. As I explained in a past article of this series, coded terms are used to indicate the child’s age and the situation depicted in the video.

An individual who checks social media on a daily basis for damage from these images said they feel a sense of crisis: “My impression that posts on X promoting Album Collection have increased three- or four-fold over the past week.”

There is also a message board dedicated solely for posting Album Collection passwords. The board gained over 7,000 comments since the beginning of December. Most of them imply in coded language that the passwords are for images of children.

Even with such widespread illegal transactions, Album Collection didn’t take down the app, and the damage continued to spread.

In response to questions from Tansa, Album Collection simply commented that they delete reported posts and that they will crack down on users engaged in illegal activity. However, they did not take any measures to fundamentally improve the situation. They were shirking their responsibility as app administrators by only responding on a case-by-base basis.

And their response to reported posts was lacking. One victim I spoke with said Album Collection was slow to respond to her repeated requests to have posts deleted. The administrators also did not notify her whether the post in question had been deleted.

In the case of “Photo Box,” another app with the same mechanism, a court ruled that the mechanism itself — in which posters profit from transactions for the images they upload — was problematic, and the app operator was convicted.

Apple removes Album Collection

Apple, which had continued to offer Album Collection in its app store, touts its commitment to safety on the App Store homepage: “For over a decade, the App Store has proved to be a safe and trusted place to discover and download apps,” it reads. “Because we offer nearly two million apps — and we want you to feel good about using every single one of them.”

However, in reality Apple was allowing the distribution of Album Collection — a hotbed of crime — across its vast user base.

Since last year, I have sent multiple requests for comment to Apple Japan President Ryo Akima. However, I have never received a response.

Therefore, on Dec. 15, 2023, I sent questions addressed to Apple Inc. CEO Tim Cook and the Apple headquarters public relations office, asking whether Apple would remove Album Collection from its App Store. In the email, I gave examples of illegal transactions occurring on the app and pressed Apple to rectify the situation.

Then, three days later, Apple removed Album Collection from its App Store. However, we never received a written response from the company.

Album collection “unavailable” in App Store.

Who is responsible for the victims?

On Dec. 31, 2023, Album Collection announced on its website that it was “ending its services.” New member registration and the ability to send new files also ended the day of the announcement. Full termination of the app was scheduled for Jan. 31, 2024.

Had the App Store removal cut into Album Collection’s revenue, making it impossible to continue operating?

Album Collection has caused much harm during its years of operation from 2017 to 2023. It is nearly impossible to find and delete all online copies of an images once it has been spread, and the victims continue to suffer.

Nor will the trade in illegal sexual images go away.

As news of Album Collection’s closure spread among users, I found posts on X trying to continue buying and selling images by directing people to other apps and private chat groups. The trade in illegal sexual images continues, just in other spaces.

To be continued.

(Originally published in Japanese on Dec. 15 to 31, 2023.)

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