Remember Apple's initiative to scan photos on user's devices to find child pornography?
Today I finally decided to research this.
The evidence is conflicting.
For context, the database of prohibited material is called CSAM (child sexual abuse material).

“If it finds any CSAM, it will report the user to law enforcement.”
— Futurism

“Apple said neither feature would compromise the security of private communications or notify police.”
— NPR

CSAM initiative is dead. It won't scan photos in iCloud. It won't scan photos on your device. It will be a feature that only works in some countries, only on children's devices, and it will be opt-in. It will only work for iMessage attachments.

This is what Apple actually said at https://www.apple.com/child-safety:
- “Features available in Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, New Zealand, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, UK, and U.S.”
- “The Messages app includes tools to warn children when receiving or sending photos that contain nudity. These features are not enabled by default. If parents opt in, these warnings will be turned on for the child accounts in their Family Sharing plan.”

News outlets telling people they will be automatically reported to authorities, and then telling there can be false-positives is a classic example of fearmongering. I hate this. Remember, anger and fear are the most marketable emotions. They make you click. News are and will always be worded to cause these emotions — it brings in money.

When presented with good news, people think they're not being told the truth. When presented with bad news, even when they're made up, people think it's the truth that's being hidden from them. This is how news works.

Now, a HUGE but:
Apple is a multi-billion dollar corporation. There is no such thing as good billionaires. Corporations will always wait for chances to invade privacy. It's like boiling the frog — one tiny measure here, one there, and just like this, step by step, they will eliminate the privacy completely. It's in their interest to have all the data about you. It brings control.
This is not the first time Apple tries to do shit like this, and it definitely won't be the last. You have to keep an eye on your privacy. If you want your privacy in the digital age, it's necessary to fight back. If you live in Europe, take the action and vote for initiatives that oppose corporate tyranny and privacy invasions.

Privacy on the internet is one thing, but scanning people's devices is a whole another thing. This is unacceptable no matter the rationale behind it. Expect more measures like that in the near future.

Research Linux. Find a distro that suits you. The notion that you can't switch because of apps/UI/etc. may be dictated by our brain's tendency to conserve energy and avoid the change.
Take a look at mobile distros like Graphene OS and LineageOS. The former only supports Pixel devices, the latter supports a wide range of devices including OnePlus and Xiaomi. They'll have FAR better privacy than iPhones.

Consider switching. It's easier than you think. Yes, it's me who's saying this. I do and will always protect people/companies from unjust criticism, and I consider myself an Apple fangirl for personal reasons related to my childhood, yet I won't fight blindly. CSAM initiative is a valid criticism, and there's nothing preventing me from saying this is unacceptable, and Apple deserves the backlash they got.

For all those that saw my previous post about Facebook embedding tracking metadata into photos: I just released a website for my project that allows you to obfuscate the tracking data in your browser.

https://fbmdob.watzon.tech

Hopefully this is helpful to some people :)

Quarantine and unemployment gave me opportunities to do side projects, here is another one I’ve done recently and I think you guys will like it

It is an image mosaic that preserves features based on color gradient, and tries to use as many photos as possible instead of just repeatedly using same picture over and over.

Here is the link: https://github.com/txstc55/...

For those who care about my minesweeper game, I’m working on submitting it to steam and make it a free game.

Google collects more data than I could imagine.
So i read an article a few days ago and it absolutely blew me off. It mentioned how google collects your personal data and makes it available to you as well (just to rub it in your face I guess). E.g
1. Visit https://google.com/maps/timeline/ : Collects exactly what it says.
2. Visit https://myactivity.google.com/ :
These people collect everything on your device(at least android)!!!!! Even the time spent on home screen! WTF!!!
3. Visit https://takeout.google.com/ : To download your data archive. Ranges from Google photos to Hangouts and everything in between.

-> All the above require signing in with your gmail account.

So basically, if someone manages to get a hold of your gmail password, they have the power to know everything about you.

Aaaahhhhhhh. Ridiculous.