Dear Greg Bensinger,

I just read your article “Apple’s Illusion of Privacy Is Getting Harder to Sell” and it was quite interesting to read. Prior to reading this, I had no idea of Apple’s new update that allowed them to scan photos for child abuse material.

Personally, I don’t mind this new addition. I don’t really have any important photos on my phone, and I’m aware that illegal child abuse is pretty common in our country. However, I can see why people would be concerned. Especially the concern over other countries compelling Apple to let them use the technology for their own uses. Apple allowing China to access the data of Chinese people through a third party company makes it hard for us to believe that they wouldn’t do it to us secretly.

Despite this, I still think that we shouldn’t be worried about this new technology. If you pay your taxes and obey the law, then I don’t see any reason to be worried. I’m assuming Apple just doesn’t want to support or harbor the illegal images on their servers. Apple has every right to do this, and if you truly do feel a threat to your privacy, then you can switch to a different phone. In fact, the images are only scanned in the iCloud, so you could just not use iCloud. Surprisingly there are many other ways you can save and store images.

Sincerely, Sophia Mao

Link: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/19/opinion/apple-iphone-privacy.html#commentsContainer