The real problem here is that the user can't un-pwn the device, because it's the corporation that has root instead of the user.

To do a factory reset or otherwise get it back into a state where the spyware the abuser installed is not present, the manufacturer requires the authorization of the abuser. If you can't root your own device then you can't e.g. spoof the spyware and have it report what you want it to report instead of what you're actually doing.

i wish I could downvote this a million times. if someone has to seize physical control of your phone to see sexts thats one thing. this informs the abuser whenever the sext is sent/received. this feature will lead to violent beatings of victims who share a residence with their abuser. Consider the scenario of sally sexting jim while tom sits in another room of the same home waiting for the text to set him off. in other circumstances, sally would be able to delete her texts, now violent tom will know immediately. Apple has just removed the protection of deleting texts from victims of same residence abusers.

Apple should be ashamed. I see this as Apple paying the tax of doing business in many of the worlds most lucrative markets. Apple has developed this feature to gain access to markets that require this level of surveillance if their citizens.

> Consider the scenario of sally sexting jim while tom sits in another room

Consider Sally sending a picture of a bee that Apple’s algo determines with 100% confidence is a breast while Tom sits in another room. One could iterate ad infinitum.

Well yeah, but this makes the UI better to pwn your victims - now it tells you when they do something instead of you needing to watch for it