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Under iOS 11, authorities won’t be able to image your device without a passcode

arstechnica.com

51–60 of 296 posts

Re: Under iOS 11, authorities won’t be able to image your device without a passcode

#51
post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is the only reason why I moved from Android to iOS even though I enjoy the Android phones and Google Fi more. I wish Google Fi would support iOS devices.

This change alone is tempting me, and I have been diehard anti-apple for about a decade now for walled-garden reasons. I know, I know, walled garden prevents users from opening their phone to vulnerabilities or guaranteeing a secure experience. I guess I wish I could have my cake and eat it too.

Android has required the user to enter the unlock code to back up the device for years now. This is Apple playing catch-up.

Re: Under iOS 11, authorities won’t be able to image your device without a passcode

#52
post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not anti-freedom. It's just pro-ease-of-use and it's easier to guarantee a quality experience when there are less unknowns and less variables to account for. When everyone is using the same device with the same software, it's much easier to guarantee a great experience.

Allowing side loading of apps would not impact usability in anyway. Edit: It would massively increase the usability, allowing any apps to be installed, not just Apple approved apps, making the phone more usable to many people. Back in the day I had to buy a dev account just to load an emulator I wanted to use (it was open source) without rooting.

That is objectively untrue. Every system that has allowed sideloading of apps has been compromised by that very feature.

Re: Under iOS 11, authorities won’t be able to image your device without a passcode

#53

I have never seen a company both so technically capable and supportive of user privacy as Apple. It stands completely apart from all of the tech giants of today.

That is very true, but I find it very sad that, as much as Apple is pro-privacy, it's very anti-freedom. I'd love to switch to a device as private as an iPhone, but at this point you're just renting the device from them.

Unfortunately in the device world you have to pick one over the other. The more open a device is the less it can protect your privacy. We haven't yet seen a device that can do both.

Re: Under iOS 11, authorities won’t be able to image your device without a passcode

#54
post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The alternative was passcodes and Apple's research suggested that people disabled passcodes rather than use anything secure. TouchID was determined to be far more secure than no passcode and having both TouchID and a passcode is secure enough for most users. You can't add devices without both (along with an Apple ID password) and, at that point, you have physical access to the device which negates most security featu…

Interesting and pragmatic. Do you have a reference for this? I'd be interested in reading more.

There is a reference for this as Apple published a security white-paper about it prior to the release of TouchID. Unfortunately, I'm not at a point where I can search for it. If I find the time today, I will update this post with a link.

Re: Under iOS 11, authorities won’t be able to image your device without a passcode

#55
For anyone concerned that authorities force you to give up your password to them (thus allowing them to image your device), you can pair your iPhone to a computer with a MDM (managed device profile), which will prevent any other device from connecting to it. iOS security researcher (now Apple employee) Jonathan Zdziarski has 2 blog posts on this:

Counter-Forensics: Pair-Lock Your Device with Apple’s Configurator:

https://www.zdziarski.com/blog/?p=2589

Protecting Your Data at a Border Crossing:

https://www.zdziarski.com/blog/?p=6918

Re: Under iOS 11, authorities won’t be able to image your device without a passcode

#56
post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This change alone is tempting me, and I have been diehard anti-apple for about a decade now for walled-garden reasons. I know, I know, walled garden prevents users from opening their phone to vulnerabilities or guaranteeing a secure experience. I guess I wish I could have my cake and eat it too.

Android has required the user to enter the unlock code to back up the device for years now. This is Apple playing catch-up.

iOS devices have always required the device to "trust" the computer before allowing the backup. Looking at the article, the only real difference now appears to be that you can't just use TouchID, you're forced to use the passcode.

Re: Under iOS 11, authorities won’t be able to image your device without a passcode

#57

I have never seen a company both so technically capable and supportive of user privacy as Apple. It stands completely apart from all of the tech giants of today.

It's great. They essentially have a monopoly on providing privacy, which is and will continue to be a bigger competitive advantage.

Re: Under iOS 11, authorities won’t be able to image your device without a passcode

#58
post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This change alone is tempting me, and I have been diehard anti-apple for about a decade now for walled-garden reasons. I know, I know, walled garden prevents users from opening their phone to vulnerabilities or guaranteeing a secure experience. I guess I wish I could have my cake and eat it too.

Android has required the user to enter the unlock code to back up the device for years now. This is Apple playing catch-up.

Android = Google

(No, aosp is unusable, and Google is working to make it more unusable).

Google = no privacy

Therefore, Android = no privacy

Q.E.D

Re: Under iOS 11, authorities won’t be able to image your device without a passcode

#59
post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not anti-freedom. It's just pro-ease-of-use and it's easier to guarantee a quality experience when there are less unknowns and less variables to account for. When everyone is using the same device with the same software, it's much easier to guarantee a great experience.

Allowing side loading of apps would not impact usability in anyway. Edit: It would massively increase the usability, allowing any apps to be installed, not just Apple approved apps, making the phone more usable to many people. Back in the day I had to buy a dev account just to load an emulator I wanted to use (it was open source) without rooting.

Technically, they do. You just have to pay more for it (aka buying a developer account).

Re: Under iOS 11, authorities won’t be able to image your device without a passcode

#60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Android has required the user to enter the unlock code to back up the device for years now. This is Apple playing catch-up.

Android = Google (No, aosp is unusable, and Google is working to make it more unusable). Google = no privacy Therefore, Android = no privacy Q.E.D

What data does Google collect that Apple doesn't collect? The only difference I can see is that Google is competent at making the data it collects useful to the user and barely usable to advertisers.

Your comment looks like trolling. We were discussing a feature to prevent others from backing up your device.

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