The point still stands. That’s how geo-tagged images get in your photos, and the search function still works.

For what it’s worth, I’m surprised that you never save photos to your phone that you didn’t take yourself. Do people not send you interesting pictures? Pictures of yourself?

I don't actually use my phone for much. Taking photos, making phone calls. I'm not the kind of person who lives on their phone. I live on my laptop (which has Location Services disabled entirely).

I don't even use Photos app on Mac anymore. They've ruined it compared to the old iPhoto. I just keep my photos in folders in Finder.

you started out suggesting it wasn't possible and when presented with a common case showing it was not only possible but likely, you moved the goal posts and now say "well, I don't do that." Weak sauce.

I admit that I hadn't considered the possibility of importing outside geotagged photos into your own Photos library, because I don't do that. But I also said already, "To be clear, I meant that it was a nonissue for me, because I don't geotag my photos (except in that one test). Whether it's an issue for other people, I don't know."

I don't personally have a strong feeling for or against this particular feature, since I don't use geotagging at all, so it doesn't affect me. I'm neither endorsing nor condemining it offhand. I'll leave it to other people to argue over whether it's a privacy problem. It could be! I just lack the proper perspective on this specific issue.