No big deal, going to move away from iCloud and save myself the $9.99 a month. There’s nothing even remotely bad on my phone but I don’t care enough to read their explanation on how it works and why blah blah blah. It’s their choice to do whatever they want and if they want to scan photos before being uploaded to the cloud then fine, I just need an excuse to rid myself of one more pointless subscription anyways
But it will not remove the software capability in the OS you will be using, which is why I now asks myself if it was with intent to extend surveillance, as if not, then Apple could easily have emulated others by having hash checks on their servers, but they CHOSE a method whereby they prefer to put it into operating systems affecting billions, which makes no sense as its far less efficient than having it in one place, doing one thing, reassuring customers that Apple do not have the intent to extend it, which is not now the case if they intend putting into the various OS's.
To put coding in, it bypasses Apple's Systems Integrity Protection as Apple have unfettered access, allowing them to update or modify even system files, so whilst we might be told it was only designed to do one thing, that's not to say it cannot be modified by Apple whenever or if they chose to. This is why its so dangerous, and why its much better for Apple to step back and announce they are initiating hash checks on their servers not within operating systems.
I've asked them to consider the option of removing it from the OS and if they are really intent put the interrogation of hash's on iCloud leaving customers machines free from coding that would then be unnecessary.
For me even that will not achieve what they suggest is their aim, which is why I no longer believe their reasons, as if it were just that, they would emulate others who use their own servers, not customers machines, customers electricity, and customer's processing power on the computers that may need all of that, rather than processing power being used for Apple, instead of Apple using its own resources.
For me it is crucial that Apple do not place coding on the operating systems, as I do not believe they have considered all the consequences.
Can you imagine social services or their equivalent in the UK or US many of whom use iPads, where sadly they may come across child abuse and the pictures that go with it....with hash's then flagged up but apparently then perused by Apple, who do not have the clearance, which could prejudice any court case or prejudice national security, as this material and even the hash should be absolutely confidential and quite possibly sub judice.
Likewise many government departments, and even emergency services use iPads and iPhones and some procurement requirements could mean they could no longer buy Apple products, even if they didn't use iCloud, because the software may then be outside the procurement requirements for any sensitive work.
I bet paedophiles celebrated when Apple announced their intentions, as it was like they were receiving information on how to escape scrutiny, leaving innocent Apple users stuck with coding on their hardware.
Apple were recently fined $113,000,000 for slowing down older iPhones, so why put themselves in the firing line for another fine, a theoretically such cross checking prior to iCloud will still take processing power, and do similar, but whether noticeable is debatable and I wouldn't wish to predict that.
At the present time with the EU and countries assessing Apple and its modus operandi, with Apples public stance on privacy now questionable and with its spats with Facebook, Elon Musk and Epic, it probably could not have come at a worse time for Apple.
You should always leave an escape route and Apple has that, by agreeing not to incorporate the coding for the operating systems, but instead via its own servers, like others do, and where it might not be acceptable to everyone, but would provide a way of defusing the very serious red line crossed by having customers downloading updated software which puts the onus on the customer's hardware and whether someone is one iCloud or not, the mere fact that the coding exists within their system, will rightly cause justifiable concern.
