And this is just one step away from Apple and Microsoft building this scanning into the OS itself (into the kernel/filesystem code, why not?!). This is beyond insane. Stallman was right. Our devices aren't ours anymore.
Now, to be fair, there would be a secondary private hash algorithm running on Apple's servers to minimize the impact of hash collisions, but what's important is that once a file matches a hash locally, the file isn't yours anymore -- it will be uploaded unencrypted to Apple's servers and examined. How easy would it be to shift focus from CSAM into piracy to "protect intellectual property"? Or some other matter?
Jup. As others have pointed out, if Apple were willing to lie about the extent of this system and its inception date, why should we suddenly trust that they won't extend its functionality. They themselves explicitly state that the program will be extended, so if this is the starting point I don't think I will be around for the ride.
It's a shame as I really love some of their privacy-minded features (e.g. precision of access to the phone's sensors and/or media).
Now, to be fair, there would be a secondary private hash algorithm running on Apple's servers to minimize the impact of hash collisions, but what's important is that once a file matches a hash locally, the file isn't yours anymore -- it will be uploaded unencrypted to Apple's servers and examined. How easy would it be to shift focus from CSAM into piracy to "protect intellectual property"? Or some other matter?