I stopped my Apple Music subscription and downgraded iCloud to free, then donated a year of those fees to the EFF.
$13/month is nothing to Apple, and I really regret it since photos in iCloud is really convenient, however it feels unethical to contribute to the Apple services system when it will inevitably be used to hurt people like dissidents and whistle blowers.
It is arrogant to blow off security and human rights experts outside of Apple as simply confused or mistaken, when there are sufficiently informed and imaginative people within Apple to understand the practical implications of preemptively investigating users. Such contempt for users is also a sign of worrisome complacency.
On the plus side, Apple has seemed to crowd out interest in third party OS user interfaces. Knowing that Apple believes you're a pedophile until they've run image analysis software on your stuff is one way to motivate people. Maybe 2021 will be the year of Linux on the desktop.
Anyway I hope that more users sacrifice the convenience of Apple services now that its hostility is apparent, and I hope that more people tell their political representatives that it is time for meaningful updates to anti-trust legislation. I know that I was complacent when I thought that having a choice, where at least one of the companies didn't place ads in the start menu, was a tenable state of the market.
I totally agree that those actions individually are not much. However, with enough people doing those small actions, it will add up in the long run. Plus we’re going to be better off with open alternatives.
They just lost a few thousands from me alone not upgrading all my iDevices for next model year. Savings go to privacy advocacy organizations.
$13/month is nothing to Apple, and I really regret it since photos in iCloud is really convenient, however it feels unethical to contribute to the Apple services system when it will inevitably be used to hurt people like dissidents and whistle blowers.
It is arrogant to blow off security and human rights experts outside of Apple as simply confused or mistaken, when there are sufficiently informed and imaginative people within Apple to understand the practical implications of preemptively investigating users. Such contempt for users is also a sign of worrisome complacency.
On the plus side, Apple has seemed to crowd out interest in third party OS user interfaces. Knowing that Apple believes you're a pedophile until they've run image analysis software on your stuff is one way to motivate people. Maybe 2021 will be the year of Linux on the desktop.
Anyway I hope that more users sacrifice the convenience of Apple services now that its hostility is apparent, and I hope that more people tell their political representatives that it is time for meaningful updates to anti-trust legislation. I know that I was complacent when I thought that having a choice, where at least one of the companies didn't place ads in the start menu, was a tenable state of the market.