Apple already scans iCloud Mail for CSAM, but not iCloud Photos

Post by diebeforei485 » Wed, Aug 25, 2021, 12:01 AM UTC

Retric wrote: post #73

diebeforei485 wrote: post #70

It definitely makes sense to scan things that are passed around - mail is an example of that, and Gmail [and also Facebook, Twitter] scan for this, along with scanning for computer viruses, and in some cases (public posts) copyrighted content. It makes absolutely no sense to scan people's photos that they aren't sharing with anyone else. Why are they bothering with scanning people's photo backups at all? With the exc…

You can view other peoples iCloud photos. https://macpaw.com/how-to/icloud-photo-sharing

I'm aware of shared photo albums. It's reasonable to scan those, but most photos are not in shared albums.

Post by matthewdgreen » Wed, Aug 25, 2021, 3:09 PM UTC

shuckles wrote: post #138

matthewdgreen wrote: post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’m unclear if you’re saying that one can implement a new access mechanism to Apple’s default photo library (the one managed by the Photos app and that the camera saves to by default) or if you’re suggesting that I need to design my own alternative photo album. If the latter, then “but minor frictions” seems… unreasonable. Not sure what nation state adversaries have to do with a simple question about photo library ac…

If your argument is that Apple should be forced to give everyone access to the proprietary abstractions it builds on its own operating systems, like PHAssets, then we are no longer in the world of privacy and now in the world of “when is it ok to force companies to build features the public [HN posters] wants?” There are many answers to this, but it seems like the current legal regime in most places says: “Very rarel…

The question of whether Apple should open the "proprietary abstractions it builds on its own operating system" is a major one that is now being litigated in multiple courts and regulatory jurisdictions. My argument is simply that sophisticated iCloud integration falls into this category and should probably receive attention from those same courts and regulatory insitutions.

To the extent this is about privacy, the argument is that Apple has created an opinionated regime for scanning user photos using untested technology -- and has (quite correctly, I think) determined that privacy-conscious users should have the right to opt out. The issue here is that Apple's version of "opt out" does not allow users access to the same functionality through third-party cloud providers. Users who opt out for privacy and security reasons will be substantially worse off than users who opt in. This isn't the only reason that regulators should consider revisiting Apple's cloud integration, but it's a new and important one that did not exist before Apple announced this service.

Re: Apple already scans iCloud Mail for CSAM, but not iCloud Photos

Re: Apple already scans iCloud Mail for CSAM, but not iCloud Photos