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Comment by boardwaalk | Hacker News Reader

Are they wrong? It seems like most people don’t understand that Apple was already scanning iCloud Photos on their servers like Google scans Google Photos, they’re just going to be doing it client side now.

I’m not defending Apple, I wish they wouldn’t do this, but I see section 230 levels of lack of understanding out there.

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Why move it on-device then? They've made no announcement or attempt to encrypt iCloud backups, so they are free to keep scanning on their servers. Moving it on-device has zero value-add for iPhone users, it only serves as a Trojan Horse for any future "scanning" projects that they may adopt, willingly or otherwise.

I wasn’t commenting on the why. I’m just saying that all the words in the phrase “Apple regrets confusion” are probably true: There is a lot of confusion, and Apple’s PR is probably really regretting it right now.

If people understood what was going on, would they be as upset? I don’t know. Apple doesn’t seem to think so.

I think the point is people do understand - and are still upset.

They actually weren't. They wanted to start, and they thought this way of doing it was more privacy-friendly. Craig says all this, but apparently listening to what he says is forbidden.

I didn’t see that. Do you have a link? I only was able to find Jane Horvath (Apple Chief Privacy Officer) saying they were already scanning photos using PhotoDNA at CES 2020 [1].

[1] https://www.engadget.com/2020-01-07-apple-facebook-ces-priva...

This article just says "iCloud," not specifically Photos. My understanding is that they previously scanned iCloud Mail, but not iCloud Photos. I don't have a link handy unfortunately, and don't have time to dig it up again.

Why then do it on the device when you can do it on the backend with much less publicity and constantly updating it?

>but I see section 230 levels of lack of understanding out there.

Mirror mirror on the wall....

If you have an example of my lack of understanding, please show it to me. Also, your snark is below this forum.

There was a lot of confusion. Caused by Apple trying to slip this feature under the radar, and omitting information.

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