RandAlThorApple has REMOVED the ICEBlock app from the App Store due to “objectionable content.”
SalvoI’m gonna play devils advocate here (and probably be monstrously downvoted);
ICEBlock stored the location data of all its users on Apples iCloud Servers. This the perfect target for ICE; a complete database of locations of every person who doesn’t want ICE to know where they are.
One assumption is that that Apple realised how tempting this data is to the current demonstrative administration and purged it before ICE could get their civil-liberty-abusing mitts on it.
Or they removed it to keep up the appearance that it wasn’t actually a honeypot to begin with.
bremMoney is always the answer with these “people”.
To assume otherwise is to feed the beast
JesusSomething worth noting, if you are using iCloud, advanced data protection is your friend. Apple doesn’t have the encryption keys, you do.
This is not on by default.
Advanced Data Protection does require all iCloud Ecosystem devices to be current.
Not every person can afford the latest and greatest.
Current or on a current OS?
It requires iOS 16 and MacOS 13.
The devices that max out at those operating systems are 9 and 10 year old.
You’re giving apple too much credit. Tim Apple literally gifted trump a golden statue. The press are reporting that this is directly in response to a request from the DOJ. This isn’t apple having a moral epiphany and thinking they’re doing ice targets a favour. Corporation’s don’t do that sort of thing unless it will make them $$$
Alternate take: Tim is a businessman doing what’s best for Apple and he personally might not support Trump, but we will likely never know.
Same take my friend. Best for apple=compliance with whoever is in charge so they get to keep their money printer.
Oh, so you’re trying to say that Tim is so greedy that he doesn’t have values at all, other than his greed? That’s an interesting position, but I think it makes him sound even worse than the previous one.
You don’t succesfully run big corporations by having high moral standarts, this was never an argument. Argument was about what makes businessman a good business man, and one major thing is seizing opportunities and “playing” important people like Trump. I don’t think he’s anywhere as (morally) bad as Steve Jobs was, but he’s doing his job as expected.
It’s an inherent byproduct of capitalism.
If you rise to Tim Cook’s level you must be someone that is either willing to put your personal values aside or you do not have them to begin with. The growth of the company matters more and if you prioritize your values you will be filtered the moment you misalign with whatever prevents maximal growth.
Capitalism does not care about values, ethics, morals, social wellness, or anything besides growth. It is cancerous and leads to a toxic society that poisons itself and falls apart, which is literally happening
PieplupIf he does he doesn’t have morals to care about acting on his values as such they are more or less irrelevant.
Tim Apple is a billionaire, doing billionaire things. Supporting the people who give him the most power and not giving a fuck about anyone else.
Tim Apple
I love that his has just stuck, and I don’t even blink an eye at it anymore lol.
It’s certainly not altruism, but devil’s advocate: avoidance has been their go-to tactic in working around court-ordered law enforcement cooperation. If they can make it so they don’t have access to the requested data, then they can throw their hands up when subpoenas come and avoid taking sides.
Again, I don’t think it’s altruism. The legal and technical infrastructure required for law enforcement cooperation is an expensive, high-liability mess, and now they have the added risk of a fledgling privacy brand.
It’s not implausible they would delete an app hosting sensitive user data as soon as they suspect they may be forced to hand it over. In fact, what’s more weird to me is that they let it stay up until an official DoJ request.
chaosCruiserYou’re absolutely right. Economic motivations decide the trajectory a company may take. Ethics, green washing, queer rights and other factors take a back seat. If they come with financial benefits, the company will follow that path, but that’s always because of money—no matter what the marketing material actually says.
Remember when companies were supporting sexual and gender minorities? That was because financial incentives aligned with that at the time. Remember when those turncoats suddenly scrapped the DEI programs and removed all rainbow themes? Same motivation again. Facade changed, but the foundation is still the same.