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A hypothetical future where Apple doesn't have the encryptions keys for iCloud Photo Library, but this on-device scanning for uploads to iCloud Photo Library is
by kemayo 5y ago
A hypothetical future where Apple doesn't have the encryptions keys for iCloud Photo Library, but this on-device scanning for uploads to iCloud Photo Library is happening -- that sounds more secure than the status quo, in which totally arbitrary searches of your photos could be done on the server in response to warrants/NSLs.
I'm sure in such a future there'd be quite the argument happening about whether you could call it e2e.
- TechBro8615 5y agoWhat also sounds more secure than the status quo is not scanning my private photos anywhere – not on my device, and not in your cloud where I grant you custody of them.
- kemayo 5y agoAlthough this is true, none of the major cloud services seem inclined to actually do that. Google, Microsoft, Dropbox, Facebook, they're all scanning photos[0]. Let's not pretend that this sort of thing is happening in isolation. There really is a big legal movement towards requiring encryption backdoors, and programs like Apple's here are effectively part of a big negotiation with law enforcement -- note that the reason Apple's currently not e2e is apparently that the FBI pushed them on it[1]. "We'll give you what you claim is important, CSAM scans, and in return we'll lock everything else up securely". Is this great? No. Would an absolutist "law enforcement can have nothing" position backfire into stupid legal decisions? Plausibly. [0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PhotoDNA https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PhotoDNA [1]: https://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/security/a30631827/apple-fbi-encryption-whatsapp/ https://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/security/a306318...