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That would be fine except an informed choice depends on accurate information, and this letter starts off saying things that are patently false. “ Apple's propo
by simonh 5y ago
That would be fine except an informed choice depends on accurate information, and this letter starts off saying things that are patently false.
“ Apple's proposed technology works by continuously monitoring photos saved or shared on the user's iPhone, iPad, or Mac. ”
No it doesn’t, photos just saved in the phone are never scanned by either of the systems Apple is implementing, and shared photos are only scanned in two very specific situations.
Also they avoid pointing out the iMessage aspect of this is opt in only, so it only applies to children and only if parents choose to enable it, and it's off by default.
You can completely avoid all scanning entirely by not opting in children for the iMesage scan, which is irrelevant to you if you don’t have children anyway, and not using iCloud Photo Library. Photos you keep on your phone or share using other services will not be scanned. Anyone just reading this letter wouldn't know any of that. How is this promoting informed choice?
Bear in mind the iCloud Photo Library scan is being implemented in order to meet a legal obligation. Apple is required by law to scan photos uploaded to their cloud service.
So really there are two issues here. One is the question of parental authority over optionally enabling the scan for their children’s use of iMessage. That's a legitimate concern over the privacy of children, no question.
The other is whether this is an appropriate way for Apple to comply with US law requiring scanning of uploaded images, and whether that law is appropriate. Again, entirely legitimate concerns that this letter obfuscates completely.
- ajconway 5y agoProbably the main issue is that every time a technology or regulation that starts like that (“you don’t need to worry if you’re not doing anything wrong”) is then inevitably expanded into repressive activities by governments around the world.
- simonh 5y agoOh absolutely, the laws that started all of this are terribly thought through, all a child pornographer has to do to avoid these controls is not use iCloud Photo Library. That's it, just do that and they can have as much child porn on their phones as they like, and share it however they like using iMessage or anything else.
- kps 5y ago> all a child pornographer has to do to avoid these controls is not use iCloud Photo Library Yes, so as it is today, this system isn't even useful for its stated purpose. Apple are not so stupid that they don't know that. Either it will not always be as it is today, or the stated original purpose isn't the ultimate purpose. After all, the problem you state has a simple and obvious solution: just scan everything on the device. The only saving grace is that a full database of copyright material won't fit on a current device, so as long as you avoid offending people in power in your jurisdiction you're probably fine for a few years.
- simonh 5y agoOr maybe be they are just doing what they said they are doing for the reasons they gave, to comply with the law, and that’s that. But apparently that not even a possibility you can conceive of.