<story><title>Apple&apos;s child protection features spark concern within its own ranks: sources</title><url>https://www.reuters.com/technology/exclusive-apples-child-protection-features-spark-concern-within-its-own-ranks-2021-08-12/</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>Wowfunhappy</author><text>The practical difference is that with on-device scanning, the system is just a few bit flips away from scanning &lt;i&gt;every&lt;/i&gt; photo on your device, instead of just the ones that are about to be uploaded. With server-side scanning, the separation is clear—what&amp;#x27;s on Apple&amp;#x27;s server can be scanned, and what&amp;#x27;s only on your phone cannot.&lt;p&gt;This all plays so perfectly into my long-time fears about the locked down nature of the iPhone. Sure, it&amp;#x27;s more secure &lt;i&gt;if&lt;/i&gt; Apple is a good steward, but no one outside of Apple can inspect or audit what it&amp;#x27;s doing!</text></item><item><author>jonplackett</author><text>In their attempt to make this extra private by scanning &amp;#x27;on device&amp;#x27;, I think they&amp;#x27;ve managed to make it feel worse.&lt;p&gt;If they scan my iCloud photos in iCloud, well lots of companies scan stuff when you upload it. It&amp;#x27;s on their servers, they&amp;#x27;re responsible for it. They don&amp;#x27;t want to be hosting CSAM.&lt;p&gt;It feels much worse them turning your own, trusty iPhone against you.&lt;p&gt;I know that isn&amp;#x27;t how you should look at it, but that&amp;#x27;s still how it feels.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>nitrogen</author><text>&lt;i&gt;With server-side scanning, the separation is clear&lt;/i&gt;&lt;p&gt;In all these threads everyone is coming close to the crux of the issue, but I want to restate it in clearer terms:&lt;p&gt;There is a sacrosanct line between &amp;quot;public&amp;quot; and &amp;quot;private,&amp;quot; &amp;quot;mine&amp;quot; and &amp;quot;yours.&amp;quot;  That line cannot be crossed by Western governments without a warrant.  Cloud computing has deliberately blurred this line over time.  This on-device scanning implementation blows right past that line.&lt;p&gt;Our tools before the computing revolution, and our devices after, become a part of us.  Our proprioception extends to include them as part of &amp;quot;self.&amp;quot;  A personal device -- a tool that should be wholly owned and wholly dependable, like pen and paper -- that betrays its user, is a self that betrays itself.</text></comment>
<story><title>Apple&apos;s child protection features spark concern within its own ranks: sources</title><url>https://www.reuters.com/technology/exclusive-apples-child-protection-features-spark-concern-within-its-own-ranks-2021-08-12/</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>Wowfunhappy</author><text>The practical difference is that with on-device scanning, the system is just a few bit flips away from scanning &lt;i&gt;every&lt;/i&gt; photo on your device, instead of just the ones that are about to be uploaded. With server-side scanning, the separation is clear—what&amp;#x27;s on Apple&amp;#x27;s server can be scanned, and what&amp;#x27;s only on your phone cannot.&lt;p&gt;This all plays so perfectly into my long-time fears about the locked down nature of the iPhone. Sure, it&amp;#x27;s more secure &lt;i&gt;if&lt;/i&gt; Apple is a good steward, but no one outside of Apple can inspect or audit what it&amp;#x27;s doing!</text></item><item><author>jonplackett</author><text>In their attempt to make this extra private by scanning &amp;#x27;on device&amp;#x27;, I think they&amp;#x27;ve managed to make it feel worse.&lt;p&gt;If they scan my iCloud photos in iCloud, well lots of companies scan stuff when you upload it. It&amp;#x27;s on their servers, they&amp;#x27;re responsible for it. They don&amp;#x27;t want to be hosting CSAM.&lt;p&gt;It feels much worse them turning your own, trusty iPhone against you.&lt;p&gt;I know that isn&amp;#x27;t how you should look at it, but that&amp;#x27;s still how it feels.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>throaway46546</author><text>I agree. Our phones tend to hold all of our most intimate data. Violating them is akin to violating our homes. It would be nice if the laws saw it this way.</text></comment>