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I bet they will have an announcement next week. They dont want to make the situation worse. They cant just cancel because half the users will be upset “for the kids”. So they have to come up with a coherent plan to get themselves out of this problem.
From the looks of the reporting and comment sections, I'm sure much of what has been happening has reached the norms by now, even at the base level it isn't hard to understand Apple turning their back on privacy no matter what the reason. There will be supporters, hell there are supporters in comment sections now, but I'd be surprised if half the people will cry out if this is abandoned.

I wonder what happened to all those armchair "experts" who said everyone just didn't understand the technology and it is totally cool dudes, let it happen. I see there is one stu... brave enough to post. It isn't the technology or what it can do, it is about consenting by inaction to let others decide how much privacy and freedom you need.

Though quoted a couple of centuries ago it is still relevant today... take it away Benji!

"Those that would sacrifice liberty for security will in the end have neither, nor deserve neither." - Benjamin Franklin.
 
Another alternative might be to spend the $ towards a laptop/desktop and a landline.

The cost from a cell plan also adds up, and when applied towards a computer, could provide some serious upgrades.

In a lockdown world, mobile is niche… and boring.
Landlines have basically been discontinued here in Finland.
 
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I doubt that's the reason. I believe they actually believe they are using their market power to do something altruistic and good - snuff out CP.
Apple has been under congressional pressure to do something about this. It absolutely has something to do with their well-founded concern of having this material on their servers. They’ve been reporting hundreds of cases a year. Facebook: millions.
 
CSAM Is a massively bad idea but I doubt Apple will reverse course. They rarely do. I suspect this is being driven by fears of somehow being prosecuted for "storing” illegal materials on their server even if they have no control over it and have no access to the content.

Shame it wasn’t called HomeCSAM. Then they’d drop it immediately.
 
At this point I’m beyond Apple just removing this feature from iOS 15. We now deserve a public apology from Apple for violating our trust for privacy and acknowledge that this feature could open the door like many believe. Along with a detailed list of who (county/government names here) pushed them to add this feature. Plus those at Apple that approved this should be removed from the company. I will never trust Apple again until those all happen.
 
Waiting for the survillience apologists to argue these two researchers 'don't understand' the process...
From what I’ve read here: they don’t. The problem with their service was that it used an external server to scan for content. That’s not the case in Apple’s implementation at all. All communication is completely end-to-end encrypted. Malicious users can still send offensive material to whomever they want and no-one except for the receiving user will know about it. However, with the new service, if parents choose to enable it, children’s accounts will scan the received images after decrypting them but before displaying them and present the minor with a content warning. If the kid is below the age of thirteen, the parents will can choose to get a warning that improper material was sent to their child. None of this is enabled by default. No external sources are alerted, the service (iMessage) or its provider (Apple) don’t get a notification at all. So, the E2E-messaging is still safe, but children get an optional layer of protection from creeps. Also, older minors can avoid unsolicited dick pics without their parents knowing about it (just in case some moronic parents try to blame their kids just for receiving that kind of harassment. Sadly, victim blaming is not unheard of).
 
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I just REALLY wish people would stop the (false) hot take "oh but Google and MS do it too!!!"

There's a HUGE difference between voluntarily using an online service or not, an informed decision and choice, and an OS update on your device that you have no say in.

That is the nuance here. I would have no issue if they scanned iCloud KNOWING they were going to do it. You consented to that and can choose another service. Same with Google and MS.

But not 100% of devices without consent. I suppose you can not update your OS but who knows how far back in OS this code goes, and makes its own security risks not updating too; not a viable solution either.

But for the love of God can we understand the consent issue of Google/MS vs. Apple here and you get no choice when it is on device.

And Google/MS didn't sell privacy as an aspect of their services either; ever. Remember....

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the intent I think is good, but I think Apple is becoming more omnipresent and need to be a bit more coherent internally. it seems there is no balanced dialog internally. If they continue to try and push one size fits all without properly vetting it before it leaks, then while I may still use iOS devices, certainly will not have iCloud or personal data stored on the device. It will merely act as a phone. which honestly they should have iOS lite so you can just use core functions without all the added tech if you don't need it...which could extend the lifespan of "vintage" or "obsolete" models.
 
Soon we will be looking for a device that can only call and we will have to cover or disable our phone cameras because at some point we will unknowingly take a photo that will land us in jail or something else worse. I hate to say this, but this will be the last time I would use a smart phone when this is enabled.
 
What is the alternative? Android? That is far from a privacy haven as well. Is there a third mobile operating system with a healthy app ecosystem?

I understand that we don't trust Apple to necessarily continue to do the right thing with regard to future government intrusions, but today in 2021, I trust Apple more than I trust Google. So on the balance of those two, I am not sure where else I can turn.
I have an android phone on order. And no, I don't trust google as far as I can throw them, but they don't do on device scanning, yet, Apple is leading the way. But at least that android phone is truly different (a S Flip 3), unlike years of "faster" and better camera. I was already getting tired of that, this just pushed me WAY over the edge.
 
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