3 ms·

Making this about speed is burying the lede. From a privacy and user-freedom perspective, it's horrifying. Don't think so? Apple now theoretically has a centra

by dTal 6y ago

Making this about speed is burying the lede. From a privacy and user-freedom perspective, it's horrifying. Don't think so? Apple now theoretically has a centralized database of every Mac user who's ever used youtube-dl. Or Tor. Or TrueCrypt.

threeseed 6y ago
Apple already has every iPhone user's photos, messages, browsing history, keychains etc. Not sure how a list of installed apps is going to be worse than that.
- saagarjha 6y ago
  Not if you choose to not sync them.
  - radicaldreamer 6y ago
    Yup, you can choose to not use iCloud backup and back up offline in an encrypted way (even over wifi) if you’d like.
gitgud 6y ago
Richard Stallman's ideals have become a bit less crazy for me now... Either you have the ability to control the software, or it controls you
- verytrivial 6y ago
  I think coming to this realisation about Stallman's ideas (not the man, mind) is something that most rational computer users are bound to do. It happens at different times for different people, but I think people very rarely go back after that "Hang on a second ....??" moment.
  - m463 6y ago
    I remember once he said "proprietary software subjugates people" and I just sort of blinked a bit. It seemed sort of over the top. And over time I started to understand that the way things end up working out, it is very true.
acecilia 6y ago
Is it even legal that Apple is retrieving this information?
hexchain 6y ago
I always wonder why people usually choose to neglect privacy issues about Apple. First, there was Apple scanning photos to check for child abuse[0] (that obviously got no attention on this site), then there was this one - Apple uploading hashes of all unsigned executables you run. Do people really accept that company's "privacy" selling point? [0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21180019 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21180019, https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22008855 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22008855

by dTal 6y ago

threeseed 6y ago

Apple already has every iPhone user's photos, messages, browsing history, keychains etc. Not sure how a list of installed apps is going to be worse than that.

saagarjha 6y ago
Not if you choose to not sync them.
- radicaldreamer 6y ago
  Yup, you can choose to not use iCloud backup and back up offline in an encrypted way (even over wifi) if you’d like.

gitgud 6y ago

Richard Stallman's ideals have become a bit less crazy for me now... Either you have the ability to control the software, or it controls you

verytrivial 6y ago
I think coming to this realisation about Stallman's ideas (not the man, mind) is something that most rational computer users are bound to do. It happens at different times for different people, but I think people very rarely go back after that "Hang on a second ....??" moment.
- m463 6y ago
  I remember once he said "proprietary software subjugates people" and I just sort of blinked a bit. It seemed sort of over the top. And over time I started to understand that the way things end up working out, it is very true.

acecilia 6y ago

Is it even legal that Apple is retrieving this information?

hexchain 6y ago

I always wonder why people usually choose to neglect privacy issues about Apple. First, there was Apple scanning photos to check for child abuse[0] (that obviously got no attention on this site), then there was this one - Apple uploading hashes of all unsigned executables you run. Do people really accept that company's "privacy" selling point? [0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21180019 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21180019, https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22008855 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22008855