No, Apple Photos face recognition is not a privacy threat – quite the opposite
We learned yesterday that a judge is allowing a $32B lawsuit to proceed , alleging that Apple Photos face recognition violates a state privacy law. It has been conflated with Meta’s use of face recognition, despite the two companies’ approaches falling at opposite ends of the privacy spectrum. In allowing the case to proceed, the court fundamentally misunderstands how the feature works …
A recent $32 billion lawsuit aimed at Apple Photos face recognition has been dismissed due to misinterpretations of the feature's functionality. The confusion stems from contrasting Apple's privacy-preserving approach to Meta's practices. To grasp the situation accurately, one must first consider a 2015 lawsuit against Meta for using face recognition to suggest friends.
This feature, which collects biometric information on Meta servers, led to a $650 million settlement. Apple, however, does not collect biometric data on its servers. Instead, Apple's in-device recognition algorithm merely identifies faces and offers tagging suggestions without knowing the individuals involved. Apple's privacy policy confirms that it does not access users' photos or videos.
Despite the lawsuit's six-year duration, courts and legislators have failed to comprehend Apple's advanced privacy measures, exemplified by their confusion over end-to-end encryption.
Written by urgent.news from 9to5Mac's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — it may contain errors, so check the original before relying on it.
