Maybe the point is that's on the server, not on the device.

On the device means it's going to the server in Apple's case. The option is only enabled when you have the iCloud Photos feature enabled, which means the photos it's scanning are photos that are on their way to the cloud.

If you turn the iCloud Photos feature off, no more scanning is happening.

This seems pretty simple to me.

> If you turn the iCloud Photos feature off, no more scanning is happening.

Yet.

A few years later, [Insert gov agency here] will force Apple to scan all photos and compare hashes to material banned by the government.

This ability to scan photos on the device simply should not exist. If they only want to scan photos being uploaded, just scan them on the server itself. It really isn't that hard.

Apple has turned a steel barrier that's capability focused, into a policy barrier that can be changed by influencing people. That's simply much more insecure and much less privacy focused.