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

Re:Apple already scans iCloud Mail for CSAM, but not iCloud ... by joshstrange on Monday August 23, 2021 @12:19PM (#28278211)

Genuine question. I know this is not the situation we find ourselves in but, if your options were on-device scanning for CSAM+encrypted iCloud Photos (that Apple could not decode) OR cloud-based scanning of iCloud Photos which would you pick? Are you still opposed to all on-device scanning?

Edit: Thank you all for your replies. I don't share the exact same concerns as some of you but I appreciate you sharing your thoughts/reasoning. I really did what to know what people thought about this in the context of an E2E iCloud-* and it's been hard to pick that out of all the other discussions.

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Re:Apple already scans iCloud Mail for CSAM, but not iCloud ... by haaserd on Monday August 23, 2021 @12:30PM (#28278369)

I'd happily pick cloud based scanning. At least that way I can opt out by not using their cloud. I have serious doubts that choosing not to use iCloud will actually stop Apple from running scanning code on my device. Having a capability pretty much ensures that it will be used, and likely misused.

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Re:Apple already scans iCloud Mail for CSAM, but not iCloud ... by kemayo on Monday August 23, 2021 @01:23PM (#28279142)

So long as I'm confident that disabling the iCloud Photos service also disables the scanning, I prefer the local scanning + e2e encryption.

(My take is that if I can't trust Apple when they say this is the case, I also can't trust that they're not already being made to scan all my photos locally, so...)

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Re:Apple already scans iCloud Mail for CSAM, but not iCloud ... by mindslight on Monday August 23, 2021 @02:42PM (#28280179)

Apple shoving this false dichotomy at us is the problem. I choose option #3 - Apple (et al) freely scan everything stored in their cloud, while users' devices use encryption that renders most scanning moot.

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Re:Apple already scans iCloud Mail for CSAM, but not iCloud ... by YPPH on Monday August 23, 2021 @12:24PM (#28278267)

I'd pick the latter. I doubt iCloud will ever be a zero-knowledge service.

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Re:Apple already scans iCloud Mail for CSAM, but not iCloud ... by smoldesu on Monday August 23, 2021 @12:25PM (#28278290)

Probably the latter, because frankly E2E encryption means very little to me when one end is the world's most powerful company.

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Re:Apple already scans iCloud Mail for CSAM, but not iCloud ... by echelon on Monday August 23, 2021 @12:36PM (#28278441)

My house shouldn't be full of eyes and ears.

CSAM today, political materials another. This could also be used to identify whistle blowers, reporters' sources, and more.

I'd hate to have gay porn on my iPhone in a Sharia law state.

Or images of tank man in mainland China.

Imagine when the detector extends to not just files. Things typed or said.

This is a steep cliff, and we're drawing closer to the edge.

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Re:Apple already scans iCloud Mail for CSAM, but not iCloud ... by zepto on Monday August 23, 2021 @02:06PM (#28279719)

> Or images of tank man in mainland China.

The Chinese government forcibly installs spyware on people’s phones today. What Apple does or doesn’t do is of no consequence to them.

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Re:Apple already scans iCloud Mail for CSAM, but not iCloud ... by echelon on Monday August 23, 2021 @02:19PM (#28279877)

> The Chinese government forcibly installs spyware on people’s phones today. What Apple does or doesn’t do is of no consequence to them.

And that makes this okay? You're defending this use against us too.

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Re:Apple already scans iCloud Mail for CSAM, but not iCloud ... by zepto on Monday August 23, 2021 @03:44PM (#28280968)

Did someone say it was ok? The point is that it’s silly to say this CSAM mechanism makes a difference in China.

Does the US government have the power to order Apple to scan everyone’s phones for politically undesirable images?

I don’t think so.

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