So Apple has introduced a new system called “Private Cloud Compute” that allows your phone to offload complex (typically AI) tasks to specialized secure devices in the cloud. I’m still trying to work out what I think about this. So here’s a thread. 1/

@matthew_d_green Suppose, only for the sake of argument, that these technical measures succeed, and Apple‘s system is as secure as we want it to be. Here‘s my concern.

Years down the line, will their management still be as strongly committed to those goals? It sounds like this comes at considerable cost and effort. Will they *never* give in to the temptation to cut corners?

While reading the thread, I thought of Boeing. Once a model of engineering and safety; look what happened.

@slimhazard @matthew_d_green Related parallel: the proposals to identify child sexual abuse materials shared using messaging systems by creating hashes to "fingerprint" them.

The same technology potentially opens the door to fingerprinting ANYTHING an authoritarian govt doesn't want disseminated, chilling free speech or even criminalising it, including political manifestos, evidence of human rights abuses, environmental info etc.