4 ms·

It does seem ass backwards. Google scans your content for CSAM on their servers. And they scan your content for demographic and advertising data and god knows

It does seem ass backwards. Google scans your content for CSAM on their servers. And they scan your content for demographic and advertising data and god knows what else. I do not see your logic here. It appears to be an ill-decided knee-jerk reaction.

chippiewill 5y ago
It's perplexing really. It's a bit like saying you don't like how the government spies on you, so you're moving to China.
cageface 5y ago
The difference is Android gives you options. If you’re locked into iOS you’ve got no recourse if you disagree with Apple’s decisions.
- top_sigrid 5y ago
  So what's the option of Google not scanning every content you have on their devices (I mean they even scan all your emails in Gmail)? With Apple's CSAM you have an actual option which is just to not use their iCloud photo sharing.
post_break 5y ago
What content? I don't upload any photos to Google.
- vbezhenar 5y ago
  Apple promised not to scan your photos with disabled iCloud. I don’t trust them to hold that promise, but may be you will.
  - post_break 5y ago
    I think you replied to the wrong comment, I sold my iPhone and switched to Android.
- runjake 5y ago
  Presumably you're using Android with the Google frameworks installed, so it's sending all kinds of telemetry, usage, and location data to Google. You can confirm this with something like Charles proxy. Or you may be one of the rare breed of people who can use a "de-Googled" Android distribution, such as CalyxOS, for over a month before giving up. Time will tell, I suppose.
  - jmnicolas 5y ago
    I'm on GrapheneOS since last December. Yes it's tough, but before that I had come to resent my phone and wondering what it was doing in the background.
    - runjake 5y ago
      I am sincerely jealous of your tolerance skills. I'd love to have the tolerance to jump to a de-Googled Android phone and bypass FAANG's walled garden. I've tried many times.
      - 7v3x3n3sem9vv 5y ago
        What didn't you like? Been using LineageOS on an old OnePlus I had and I'm enjoying it the last few months. Especially knowing it's not doing anything weird without my approval.
        runjake 5y ago
        It just required too much finicking with. With an iPhone, it's been a phone/camera and I don't need to spend any time messing with it. I ran (and contributed to!) LineageOS^WCyanogenmod for years and years. It was great. I can see myself returning to LineageOS (or similar), as iOS is getting quite buggy and I am put off by the wealth of gestures. It seems like whenever I use the iPhone, I accidentally swipe into some other screen. It's like slipping on banana peels.
lrae 5y ago
> Google scans your content for CSAM on their servers. How does their content get on google's servers? And last time I checked, there was no content-scanning feature implemented in Android (and especially not in Graphene, Calyx, Lineage, or what ever.)
- theshrike79 5y ago
  Nothing was going to get scanned on iOS either, unless you had "upload to Apple servers" enabled...
  - lrae 5y ago
    Did you read the comment I replied to? And read the second part of my comment? Not sure what your commment has to do with anything. It's all good though, I'm still using an iPhone. But might switch, especially with so many people in HN comments telling me that Android would scan all my data and send it to Google without being able to substantiate that claim.
  - n8cpdx 5y ago
    *unless one of the iOS updates surreptitiously re-enabled "upload to Apple servers" as they are notorious for doing...
    - djrogers 5y ago
      Citation? As far as I’m aware, this has never once happened.
    - theshrike79 5y ago
      If your threat model includes Apple surreptitiously enabling spying features on your phone, sure. Mine doesn't.
- jachee 5y ago
  > How does their content get on google's servers? Same way it would get onto Apple’s servers: the customer chooses to upload it. The difference is that with on-device screening, Apple wouldn’t have to take delivery of CSAM to detect it, and it doesn’t have to scan anything that’s not destined to be uploaded.
himaraya 5y ago
Nah, Android 12 makes opting out of data collection for ads pretty straightforward. I'll take server scans instead of device scans any day of the week.

chippiewill 5y ago

It's perplexing really. It's a bit like saying you don't like how the government spies on you, so you're moving to China.

cageface 5y ago

The difference is Android gives you options. If you’re locked into iOS you’ve got no recourse if you disagree with Apple’s decisions.

top_sigrid 5y ago
So what's the option of Google not scanning every content you have on their devices (I mean they even scan all your emails in Gmail)? With Apple's CSAM you have an actual option which is just to not use their iCloud photo sharing.

post_break 5y ago

What content? I don't upload any photos to Google.

vbezhenar 5y ago
Apple promised not to scan your photos with disabled iCloud. I don’t trust them to hold that promise, but may be you will.
- post_break 5y ago
  I think you replied to the wrong comment, I sold my iPhone and switched to Android.
runjake 5y ago
Presumably you're using Android with the Google frameworks installed, so it's sending all kinds of telemetry, usage, and location data to Google. You can confirm this with something like Charles proxy. Or you may be one of the rare breed of people who can use a "de-Googled" Android distribution, such as CalyxOS, for over a month before giving up. Time will tell, I suppose.
- jmnicolas 5y ago
  I'm on GrapheneOS since last December. Yes it's tough, but before that I had come to resent my phone and wondering what it was doing in the background.
  - runjake 5y ago
    I am sincerely jealous of your tolerance skills. I'd love to have the tolerance to jump to a de-Googled Android phone and bypass FAANG's walled garden. I've tried many times.
    - 7v3x3n3sem9vv 5y ago
      What didn't you like? Been using LineageOS on an old OnePlus I had and I'm enjoying it the last few months. Especially knowing it's not doing anything weird without my approval.
      - runjake 5y ago
        It just required too much finicking with. With an iPhone, it's been a phone/camera and I don't need to spend any time messing with it. I ran (and contributed to!) LineageOS^WCyanogenmod for years and years. It was great. I can see myself returning to LineageOS (or similar), as iOS is getting quite buggy and I am put off by the wealth of gestures. It seems like whenever I use the iPhone, I accidentally swipe into some other screen. It's like slipping on banana peels.

lrae 5y ago

> Google scans your content for CSAM on their servers. How does their content get on google's servers? And last time I checked, there was no content-scanning feature implemented in Android (and especially not in Graphene, Calyx, Lineage, or what ever.)

theshrike79 5y ago
Nothing was going to get scanned on iOS either, unless you had "upload to Apple servers" enabled...
- lrae 5y ago
  Did you read the comment I replied to? And read the second part of my comment? Not sure what your commment has to do with anything. It's all good though, I'm still using an iPhone. But might switch, especially with so many people in HN comments telling me that Android would scan all my data and send it to Google without being able to substantiate that claim.
- n8cpdx 5y ago
  *unless one of the iOS updates surreptitiously re-enabled "upload to Apple servers" as they are notorious for doing...
  - djrogers 5y ago
    Citation? As far as I’m aware, this has never once happened.
  - theshrike79 5y ago
    If your threat model includes Apple surreptitiously enabling spying features on your phone, sure. Mine doesn't.
jachee 5y ago
> How does their content get on google's servers? Same way it would get onto Apple’s servers: the customer chooses to upload it. The difference is that with on-device screening, Apple wouldn’t have to take delivery of CSAM to detect it, and it doesn’t have to scan anything that’s not destined to be uploaded.

himaraya 5y ago

Nah, Android 12 makes opting out of data collection for ads pretty straightforward. I'll take server scans instead of device scans any day of the week.