A disturbing recent find raises severe concerns regarding the company’s dedication to its customers’ privacy. A feature named Enhanced Visual Search in iOS 18 and macOS 15 Sequoia sends photo data without consent. Developer Jeff Johnson reported that Enhanced Visual Search sends data automatically with users’ photo collections, with default enabled for everyone.
What Is Enhanced Visual Search?
The Enhanced Visual Search, which debuted with iOS 15, scans through photos to recognize objects and landmarks, bringing in more meaningful context and better photo library organization. It works by generating “vector embeddings,” essentially digital fingerprints of the objects within your photos. Apple processes those vector embeddings, leading many to raise their privacy concerns over not having consent.
While undeniably advanced in technology, one critical inconsistency exists: the default sharing of sensitive data with Apple servers contradicts the company’s long-standing reputation for prioritizing privacy and end-to-end encryption. Privacy advocates argue this could put users at risk for potential data vulnerabilities.
What to Do End
If you’re concerned about privacy, you can turn it off through the Settings app. Go to Apps, click Photos, and click Disable Enhanced Visual Search. This way, the photo data will no longer be automatically shared with Apple.
Apple has not yet made any public statement on this issue. The news is a wake-up call for users to be aware of the features activated on their devices and take steps to protect their personal information.
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