Apple introduced a data collection feature without warning users

Apple's recent introduction of Enhanced Visual Search for iPhones has sparked privacy controversy. The feature, automatically enabled for all users, analyzes photos to identify landmarks and their locations using a centralized database.

What else is known

Apple claims the technology is secure and uses encryption, differential privacy, and OHTTP relaying. However, users have raised concerns about the data being transferred to the company's servers. The criticism is related to the lack of transparency, as the feature was discovered by accident, rather than through an official announcement.

Despite the ability to disable Enhanced Visual Search, some data still continues to be collected.

Experts emphasize that such actions, as well as associations with criticism of the CSAM image scanning proposal, undermine the credibility of Apple, which has previously emphasized the importance of user consent for data collection.