While this is true in general, I think it's actually not true for Apple with respect to iPhotos (possibility of true end to end encryption), since they also mak

While this is true in general, I think it's actually not true for Apple with respect to iPhotos (possibility of true end to end encryption), since they also make the photo processing software and the camera itself. The sensor data needs to be rendered to a file before it is even possible to encrypt it, so Apple could capture and scan that if they wanted to. You can't encrypt light waves before they hit the physical sensors. Of course, the same is true of messaging. Apple owns the keyboard software and nothing stops them from putting a keylogger in to capture text before it ever hits the messaging app that encrypts it (and it pretty much needs to have one for predictive text to be possible). They obviously can and arguably should choose to ignore the data streams before they hit the network clients and can be encrypted, but the capability will always be there. I think part of the issue here is Apple owning all of the hardware, the OS, and the network client. People don't want to trust network clients, but you have no choice but to trust the OS and hardware vendors. If you don't trust them, your only option for guaranteed private communication is to not use computers. You either need to resort to the organized crime/terrorist model of using hand carry via couriers who credibly believe you'll kill them if they rat you out, or the military model of building your own communications devices.