> Would any of us be speaking out like we are right now if Apple had chosen to do server-side scanning instead of on-device scanning, just like every other comp

> Would any of us be speaking out like we are right now if Apple had chosen to do server-side scanning instead of on-device scanning, just like every other company? People had voiced concern when BigTech started cloud scanning - either motivated by profits (data mining users data) or to comply with government regulations. That's why we saw an increased awareness of encryption technology (and why governments have now started cribbing about how encryption needs to go). We also saw a boycott of cloud tech by many privacy advocates. But one of the reason it has been grudgingly accepted is because, to some level, we do understand that all business services are bound by some regulation to ensure they are not participant in something illegal. And we still have a choice to not use these services. But, as you rightly pointed out, avoiding these services does limit users. And obviously people do feel outraged by the preposterous idea that just because you produce some content and want to share it with even a single person, you are now expected to submit to a scan of your device. This is such a subversion of our hard fought rights.