MBW 779: It's Not a Clown, Bill

[Joe]

@vernonlvincent

Is there nothing to this beyond what Apple has stated or is there something more substantial here?

I think that the “slippery slope” argument applies less to Apple’s intentions and more to governments forcing their hand now that they know that the capability exists.

@vernonlvincent

Why go to the trouble of creating a new on-device process unless you intend to use it for more than just one purpose?

I believe that the reasoning is that if it is done on device, Apple won’t have to pass anything to the feds unless there is a match that is made. I don’t agree with it but it makes sense.

[Leo]

The most reasonable explanation is that Apple wants to roll-out end-to-end encryption for iCloud, but can’t unless it offers this CSAM prevention as a sop, first.

[Joe]

That is my hope as well. I think that a reasonable compromise would be for Apple to roll out end-the-end “trust no one” encryption for iCloud backups. Treat it the way Android OEMs treat sideloading - don’t make it the default, bury it in settings, and throw up a bunch of scary warnings when someone tries to enable it. That would do two things:

1. It would still catch criminals who are stupid enough to enable iCloud backups for their CSAM images. If they are stupid enough to do that, they won’t know to enable e2e.
2. It gives vulnerable populations an option to better protect themselves - political dissidents in China, LGBTQ communities in nations outlawing homosexuality, etc.

[puzzledfiggjo]

@big_D

I tried Ted Lasso, but it is a steaming pile of embarrassment. I really couldn’t watch it. But that sums up a majority of modern US comedy, unfortunately. I am very empathic and, if someone is being embarrassed, I feel their pain and don’t find it funny. Unfortunately, modern US comedy seems to be 90% embarrassment.

Most US TV (and yes, I’m from/in the US) is an embarrassment.

I tried watching How I met your mother and Big Bang Theory, but I can’t watch them for long. I’ll watch 10 minutes here and there, but that is 10 minutes in January and another 10 minutes in August, I can’t cope with more.

I’ll admit to liking How I Met Your Mother, but I only made it through 10 minutes of Big Bang Theory total. I never had any interest in it after that, and then watching some of the YouTube videos of BBT without the laugh track make me care about it even less.

These days, I much prefer European content. There are several great French cop shows that are very good, for example.

One show I really enjoyed from Norway was Beforeigners. Very interesting concept. Waiting for the second season.

[vernonlvincent]

I can agree with this as far as it goes - but cloud scanning for CSAM has been going on for years - so why is Apple only now getting to it? It can’t be because they just now thought of a solution - that seems ludicrous on its face.

They also have to be aware of the can of worms this opens - regardless of their statements that they will never give in to Governments who want to expand it. Maybe they won’t on governments- but what about the entertainment industry seeking to reduce piracy? If Apple can have a database of hashes for pirated movies and music - or even a database of movies period - that can be checked against file contents on an iPad or MacBook - and they get pressure from movie and music execs - I could see them doing it.

Maybe I’m overly cynical as to Apple’s motives. Their tight-fisted control over the entire platform leaves me thinking they are continually looking for more ways to lock it down ‘for our safety’. Now that we have scanning of specific file types with comparison against a database of known hashses - what is the next order consequence of that technology (as Amy Webb loves to ask)? What can Apple next use this solution for?