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Oh come on. Everyone has known about that suspected back door for more than fifteen years. Nobody is saying that all curves are therefore insecure.
I agree, but what I said was that we do not know what key generation code is being used. While some people might know about this particular backdoor it was just an example and it is still today a NIST standard with support in some popular software.
 
I was able to activate it. It says it's active now on all my devices that were updated. The older ones I couldn't update are signed out of iCloud and can't be signed back in as expected. This article says it won't be working until the end of the month so I'm not sure if it is really working now or not.
 
It is curious if you read the Apple iCould Data Security Overview , it says " Apple doesn't access or store keys for any end-to-end encrypted data." It does NOT say that Apple does "not have access to the keys". Curious wording don't you think?

At the end of the day, using any type of computer requires a level of trust by the end user about how the machine being used will work. I happily **** on Apple for many things, but when it comes to this topic I have enough trust in Apple that if they say this is E2E encrypted and it's implemented the way they are stating, then I feel my data is protected to the level that I need it to be. Maybe there's some loophole that allows a TLA into my files, but that's beyond my threat assessment.

If you think this is curious wording and don't trust what Apple is offering, there's plenty of other options for secure computing that you're free to use.
 
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At the end of the day, using any type of computer requires a level of trust by the end user about how the machine being used will work. I happily **** on Apple for many things, but when it comes to this topic I have enough trust in Apple that if they say this is E2E encrypted and it's implemented the way they are stating, then I feel my data is protected to the level that I need it to be. Maybe there's some loophole that allows a TLA into my files, but that's beyond my threat assessment.

If you think this is curious wording and don't trust what Apple is offering, there's plenty of other options for secure computing that you're free to use.
Sounds reasonable. For myself, I just think Apple can and should do better instead of selling us out to the government and pretending they are not. If Apple had better security they would state so, it is after all part of their brand. But they don't, so they spend on marketing to cover that fact up. Me, I just don't like being misled. I guess others don't really care to know how much they are being misled.
 
Right, but I think you misunderstand this feature. Your notes are already very much encrypted. It's exceedingly unlikely that anyone could access them, as they would essentially have to hack the iCloud storage.

Right now, Apple can (untrivially, but still) unlock your notes, though, so they would for instance be able to hand them over to government. But the situation for hackers doesn't change substantially.
I think that locked notes are already E2EE?

I do hope that Apple closes all the gaps in iOS 17 as we'll all need to refer to its security table re. what and what is not encrypted

(I don't think that iCloud shared documents will be encrypted in 16.2 for example).
 
Sounds reasonable. For myself, I just think Apple can and should do better instead of selling us out to the government and pretending they are not. If Apple had better security they would state so, it is after all part of their brand. But they don't, so they spend on marketing to cover that fact up. Me, I just don't like being misled. I guess others don't really care to know how much they are being misled.
There's no evidence of truth for any of the statements you just made, about being misled about what's being offered, or that your data is being handed to the government in some secret backdoor. You're not part of some enlightened few that know "what's really going on", you just sound paranoid.
 
Let's hope it rolls out and is live before the hammer comes down. Time is of the essence before someone from one of the three letter agencies tries to get legislation passed in the lame duck Congress or tries to get an injunction. Rolling it back would be more difficult than trying to stop activation.

I am surprised that it isn't available as soon as 16.2 is installed - and it may very well be if you haven't recently added a device to the account.

Um, lawmaking doesn't work that way. Things are made illegal all the time that were legal yesterday or restricted. Menthol cigarettes in California, flavored vape juice....

PS. Almost every congress and senate are lame duck's after a party change in the white house. A Lame Duck President on the other hand almost never happens, nor does the ousted party during a lame duck session not usually sweep and take majority stakes on both sides.
 
I was just considering the lack of privacy within my Instapaper account, same with my defunct Pocket account, when I read the iCloud E2EE news.

It's not mentioned specifically (though Safari Bookmarks are mentioned) but I'm curious if Safari's Reading List feature will also get E2EE. I suspect it will but will have to wait and see. If so, I'll likely stop using Instapaper since I really only use it as read-it-later storage and a convenient way to automatically move content into the Voice Dream Reader app.

Reading List can be my read-it-later storage and I'll figure out another way to get articles into Voice Dream; manually is not a big deal for me.
 
If you have HomePods or Apple TV’s, you cannot enable the feature unless you remove those devices from your iCloud account or wait until release versions of all of the OS’es come out. Final releases usually come a few days or at most a week after the RC, so I’d wait until all the releases are out.
 
Um, lawmaking doesn't work that way. Things are made illegal all the time that were legal yesterday or restricted. Menthol cigarettes in California, flavored vape juice....

PS. Almost every congress and senate are lame duck's after a party change in the white house. A Lame Duck President on the other hand almost never happens, nor does the ousted party during a lame duck session not usually sweep and take majority stakes on both sides.

Legislation does indeed work that way at least in the US. I never said anything like you said about things not being made illegal later, please reread it. The point again is: it is much easier to shut it down before it rolls out than after it rolls out, and Apple did a good job by not telegraphing this move with a lot of time to get the opposition organized to stop it.
 
I for one would like to store information in Notes that I would not want a hacker to ever access, so this is a very positive development for me.
After the fiasco of
Evernote and readitlater, and most journal apps, Notes has been indispensabl, i whole heartedly agree
 
I for one would like to store information in Notes that I would not want a hacker to ever access, so this is a very positive development for me.
Will this cover Notes, specifically, under the iCloud backups encryption?
 
Right after Proton Drive goes live I wont be using it for my files but definitely for my backups I thought these were already encrypted.
The article is misleading, all data on iCloud is already encrypted. What’s changing is that now you can make it so apple servers don’t store the decryption keys for your data, aka: end to end encryption. They should clarify this in the article because now it sounds like they used to store all your data in some easy viewable form…
 
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Which is an assumption on your part, which you are entitled to make, but no where does Apple say they cannot remotely disable and re-enable the advanced protection.

Furthermore, if the code exists to send the keys to Apple already, who knows what circumstances can cause that code can be activated and send the keys to Apple or someone else.

And no where does Apple say the government does not have access to that code. There are technical ways that can allow the government access to the keys even when Apple cannot. That way their marketing can go full steam ahead regardless of the reality.
You are really overthinking this. I appreciate privacy, especially from government eyes, as much as anyone else, but the reality is they are already able to get around E2E encryption if you're truly a target. The Pegasus flap is undeniable evidence of that. If you think NSO was the only player or even the biggest, that alphabet agencies have at their disposal, then think again. Odds are very good we don't even know of their most powerful tools yet. And if your concern is that a government can remotely deactivate ADP so as to get to your data, you should realize that if the can do that, they already have access to your data right from your phone.

You're never going to stop every attack vector or plug every security hole. Vigilance is good, but it should be aimed at what is truly effective, not channeled to paranoia towards Apple about things Apple cannot control. The fact is that for most users, this is a step forward in terms of security and I applaud the move by Apple to do it. It also highlights why Apple a year ago wanted to scan photos on-device before upload, which I did and still oppose as an overly intrusive breach into peoples' personal privacy.

If Apple can't access your keys, then they can't hand them over to anyone, and it's doubtful Apple has code established to remotely disable this encryption, but time will tell. Even if they don't, someone else like NSO will come up with a way and governments will find ways to exploit it on targets of interest. The only sure way to prevent that is (A) don't make yourself stand out as a potential target, and (B) don't use your phone for sensitive (legal or not) or illegal purposes.

Even if you don't use your phone for those things, utilize the speed bumps at your disposal to protect your privacy because even if they aren't foolproof, they can still deter certain actors based on perceived cost/benefit ratio. Similar to locking your front door so thieves will move on to look for the unlocked door unless they are certain picking the lock or breaking down your door is worth the risk and effort.
 
You say it's "exceedingly unlikely" that someone could hack iCloud storage. The thousands of companies that get hacked every year think and say the same thing. No developer or DevOps-er or IT-admin worth-their-salt is ever going to tell you to assume you will never be hacked.
I'm sure Jennifer Garner agrees with you as well.
 
It is curious if you read the Apple iCould Data Security Overview , it says " Apple doesn't access or store keys for any end-to-end encrypted data." It does NOT say that Apple does "not have access to the keys". Curious wording don't you think?
If they don't access or store keys, how are they to "have access" to said keys?
 
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