Apple dropped plan for encrypting backups after FBI complained

Assuming this is true, you still don't know what people on the other end will do, meaning it is never actually E2E encrypted.

"And if we actually think about it, it doesn’t make sense. Because privacy isn’t about something to hide. Privacy is about something to protect. That’s who you are. That's what you believe in. Privacy is the right to a self. Privacy is what gives you the ability to share with the world who you are on your own terms. For them to understand what you’re trying to be and to protect for yourself the parts of you you’re not sure about, that you’re still experimenting with.

"If we don’t have privacy, what we’re losing is the ability to make mistakes, we’re losing the ability to be ourselves. Privacy is the fountainhead of all other rights. Freedom of speech doesn’t have a lot of meaning if you can’t have a quiet space, a space within yourself, your mind, your community, your friends, your family, to decide what it is you actually want to say.

"Freedom of religion doesn’t mean that much if you can’t figure out what you actually believe without being influenced by the criticisms of outside direction and peer pressure. And it goes on and on.

"Privacy is baked into our language, our core concepts of government and self in every way. It’s why we call it 'private property.' Without privacy you don’t have anything for yourself."

> Messages in iCloud also uses end-to-end encryption. If you have iCloud Backup turned on, your backup includes a copy of the key protecting your Messages. This ensures you can recover your Messages if you lose access to iCloud Keychain and your trusted devices. When you turn off iCloud Backup, a new key is generated on your device to protect future messages and isn't stored by Apple.

But wait does it mean that if you haven't iCloud backup activated but use local backup you can actually sync message without storing private key... the wording here is important would be nice if someone clarify.

We (that is, tech users) have a choice, if we choose it. The ones who don't are the people who can't take that option (ie, your mother). You've stated as much.

What is your choice today, as someone technically inclined?

Well - you mentioned modded Android; but there are several other options, if you don't mind fiddling with things.

More than a few phone operating systems are out there, many open source.

For hardware, probably among the best right now is the Pine64 phone (it's currently in a strange "high-beta" state - you can order one, and it will supposedly be close to what will eventually be sold, but it isn't completely considered a "commercial product").

Alternatively, you could build a phone using a Raspberry Pi (or a similar board, like a Beaglebone or something), or an Arduino (you'll be very limited in what you can do using a standard Arduino - basically make/take calls, store some contacts, maybe SMS).

Note that most phone modules out there are 2/3G - but you can find 4G/LTE modules, fairly cheap if you know what you're looking for.

Your "phone" won't look pretty, but you probably know that. It will likely be fragile at times, and the software quality will depend on what you can find and what you can code yourself. Cloud storage, games, etc - will all be mostly up to you to implement in some manner.

A lot of work, certainly - but that's the only real option, as you can never be absolutely certain, if you're not in control of at least the OS and software.

But for everyone else? Yeah - they don't have any choice, unless they are willing to step up their knowledge (and most aren't, nor should they have to).