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Comment by rhexs | Hacker News Reader

My guess is that Apple is positioning themselves for an inevitable future where privacy is taken a bit more seriously or at least legislated against. While this seems far fetched right now in the United States with the Google ad monopoly, I think it will eventually come after some form of catastrophic leak (from some user data harvesting conglomerate) involving politicians or other powerful figures.

Build the trust now, reap the rewards later. Glad they're doing it.

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"I think it will eventually come after some form of catastrophic leak"

... you mean like a credit reporting agency leaking out ssn and other very important data information of millions. To be fair, as a dedicated apple hater, all these events, plus google's more recent lack of morality decision making, has made me rethink which computer, phone, maps, and search engine I will be using moving forward.

No, that event didn't hurt the rich and powerful, just the average Joe. Something more along the lines of search history leaking or being used for insider trading. Something of that nature.

Many of Aaple’s privacy and encryption efforts have come in response to the US government’s demand for data. If they don’t have access to data or never stored it, the government can’t seize it. Note that the US government’s response to this is to demand encryption back doors.

Best case scenario for the future is that these demands will be made publicly so we’ll know it’s not secure.

You have to remember Apple is a global company.

And there are journalists being locked up for allegedly compromising state secrets e.g. Myanmar, Cambodia. Dissidents being rounded up and jailed. You have Russia going after former spies and anyone criticising the government.

People are literally dying every day because of a true lack of privacy.

Apple is positioning itself for a future where they can’t compete on physical features because all phones have all features. They can’t keep building bigger displays forever.

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