6 ms·

Apple has done a fantastic PR job regarding privacy. I am more skeptical about the status of actual privacy given their iMessage situation and now this.

• olliej 6y ago
  Their iMessage situation?
  • smnrchrds 6y ago
    They backup the private key to iCloud unless you manually disable backups. So even though iMessage is advertised as E2E encrypted, for the vast majority of users, Apple can read each and every message. (And even if you disable backups, Apple can still read most if not all of your messages, because the persons on the other side of the conversations have not disabled backups)
    • catlifeonmars 6y ago
      Can Apple read your iCloud storage? I’m not saying that it is, but shouldn’t that be encrypted at rest with a customer-specific key?
      • EwanToo 6y ago
        I don't have any detailed knowledge of it, but I've seen various similar comments based on this article and similar ones: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-apple-fbi-icloud-exclusive/exclusive-apple-dropped-plan-for-encrypting-backups-after-fbi-complained-sources-idUSKBN1ZK1CT https://www.reuters.com/article/us-apple-fbi-icloud-exclusiv...
      • claudeganon 6y ago
        Yeah, they can read everything: https://sneak.berlin/20200604/if-zoom-is-wrong-so-is-apple/ https://sneak.berlin/20200604/if-zoom-is-wrong-so-is-apple/ They were going to actually encrypt it, but suddenly had a change of heart after the FBI had a chat with them: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-apple-fbi-icloud-exclusive/exclusive-apple-dropped-plan-for-encrypting-backups-after-fbi-complained-sources-idUSKBN1ZK1CT https://www.reuters.com/article/us-apple-fbi-icloud-exclusiv...
        • catlifeonmars 6y ago
          Ugh
    • tlburke 6y ago
      It's worth noting that Google, the big bad guys of privacy, uses a proper E2E encryption scheme.
      • olliej 6y ago
        iMessages is e2e encrypted, so I’m not sure what you’re saying here
    • Spivak 6y ago
      This stance undermines the point of E2E. The messaging system is still E2E even if people backup their plaintext messages or their key on non-E2E storage. Having you messages deleted because you forgot your iCloud password is good security but a terrible default.
  • tandav 6y ago
    https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25078317 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25078317
• nojito 6y ago
  Calling Apple's privacy stance PR is extremely misleading. It's been engrained in them since the 80s and with the growth of Google, it became fun to vilify Apple because of it.
• jay_kyburz 6y ago
  And their participation in PRISM https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PRISM_%28surveillance_program%29 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PRISM_%28surveillance_program%...
  • dewey 6y ago
    I thought you just ended up in PRISM you don't "join" it? Just like Google found out from the Snowden leaks and then encrypted all their DC to DC fiber.
    • agency 6y ago
      I think there were aspects of PRISM that required cooperation from providers like Google. Like the NSA would send queries to them and they would return emails or what have you that match those queries. Though of course this “cooperation” is required by law.
      • dewey 6y ago
        If there's a court order, (FISA: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_Intelligence_Surveillance_Act_of_1978_Amendments_Act_of_2008 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_Intelligence_Surveilla..., or otherwise) companies have to comply. So I don't really see how one can blame a any company for that.
        • xvector 6y ago
          You can absolutely blame companies, specifically Apple, because many things are not E2EE when they could be.
        • sneak 6y ago
          https://www.reuters.com/article/us-apple-fbi-icloud-exclusive/exclusive-apple-dropped-plan-for-encrypting-backups-after-fbi-complained-sources-idUSKBN1ZK1CT https://www.reuters.com/article/us-apple-fbi-icloud-exclusiv...
        • agency 6y ago
• deleted 6y ago
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