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Some users have noticed settings that let Meta analyze and retain phone photos

(www.zdnet.com)
530 points mdhb | 10 comments | 29 Aug 25 12:01 UTC | HN request time: 0.209s | source | bottom
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nomilk ◴[29 Aug 25 12:37 UTC] No.45063289[source]▶
IMO Apple should provide the user with audit logs of which photos/videos were accessed by each app. It might be a long list but it alleviates doubt and would put huge pressure on reputable developers to ensure they don’t get caught doing things the user wouldn’t have expected (even if the user technically allowed it).
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1. wslh ◴[29 Aug 25 13:02 UTC] No.45063561[source]▶
In the iPhone you can select which photos are accessible by apps.
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2. merelysounds ◴[29 Aug 25 13:10 UTC] No.45063649[source]▶
Even better, the app can use the OS image picker and don’t have any other access to photos.

It won’t work for all use cases, but when it works it’s very practical. I’d love to see apps use that as the default - and request additional access only when the user’s current action actually requires it.

3. Ntrails ◴[29 Aug 25 13:14 UTC] No.45063700[source]▶
I locked whatsapp out of my photos and contacts years ago. If I need a pic I copy paste it in.

Yes it is friction but I simply do not trust the Zuck

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4. znpy ◴[29 Aug 25 13:43 UTC] No.45064046[source]▶
I get your point, but there are so many more evil actors in Meta beyond “Zuck”. Reducing a company to a single person silently excuses all other awful people actively working there
5. noname120 ◴[29 Aug 25 13:45 UTC] No.45064059[source]▶
It’s a big pain because then you have a double-picker: first pick the pictures in the native dialog asking you to decide which pictures the app should have access to, and then select again the pictures you want but this time in the WhatsApp picker. It’s very awkward.
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6. trinix912 ◴[29 Aug 25 13:50 UTC] No.45064134[source]▶
A solution would be that Apple builds a privacy preserving picker in the OS, then mandates apps use it instead of giving them access to the camera roll and letting them roll their own pickers in the first place.
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7. SSLy ◴[29 Aug 25 13:53 UTC] No.45064173{3}[source]▶
> A solution would be that Apple builds a privacy preserving picker in the OS

there is already one, the enforcement point is what's missing

8. enigmo ◴[29 Aug 25 13:59 UTC] No.45064245{3}[source]▶
this already exists, many apps use it. I do wish it was mandatory for _all_ apps to use it instead of being optional.
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9. RajT88 ◴[29 Aug 25 14:32 UTC] No.45064643[source]▶
Modern Android has this too. I'm not sure what all distros it's in, since my Pixel 8 Pro doesn't have it, but LineageOS does and so does my cheap ass Motorola G 5G.
10. MiddleEndian ◴[29 Aug 25 19:58 UTC] No.45068685{4}[source]▶
iOS (and Android) could also replace the non-privacy-respecting one with a privacy-respecting one that just gives dummy responses to other API calls. Devices should be lying on my behalf to apps and services all the time.