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

(www.zdnet.com)
530 points mdhb | 2 comments | 29 Aug 25 12:01 UTC | HN request time: 0.443s | source
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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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AndroTux ◴[29 Aug 25 13:55 UTC] No.45064188[source]▶
I don’t understand why apps need access to my photos at all. (with some very specific exceptions,) apps should only access a photo, which I first select using the system photo picker. There’s no need for apps to access the entire camera roll just so I can select one photo to use with that app.

I know that that’s partially implemented with the limited photo access now, but it’s confusing from a UI perspective and I don’t understand why this isn’t the default.

The only apps that need full access to my camera roll, are apps like Google Photos, Nextcloud or Immich. Everyone else can suck a lemon.

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jamwil ◴[29 Aug 25 14:08 UTC] No.45064353[source]▶
iOS already has exactly the experience you describe and it clearly urges you toward sharing only specific photos.

The only feature request I have is to be able to scope app permissions to an album, since the current flow of selecting individual photos adds a lot of friction.

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1. ChrisLTD ◴[29 Aug 25 16:14 UTC] No.45065986[source]▶
Something like "allow app access to last photo" would be ideal for me
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2. Nevermark ◴[29 Aug 25 17:05 UTC] No.45066664[source]▶
Why?

If they have access to the last photo ... every photo you ever took was the last photo. Why mess around giving app's permission to surveil/siphon off your photos at all?

Any carte blanche for apps, and apps will go to great lengths to take advantage of that in unexpected ways, and obscure the fact they are doing so.

And privacy losses can never be verifiably reversed.

All most apps need is for you to select photos to upload/import using an Apple supplied photo selector. So they only see and get exactly what you want them to have.