[MBCook]

> no one asked Apple to do this

Apple is very pro-privacy and probably doesn’t like having access to unencrypted customer photos. But if they just encrypted everything it would be a child abuser’s dream because suddenly they’d be safe on iOS, and when people found out Apple started protecting them it would be a disaster for PR and law enforcement.

After much consultation their solution was to scan for known abuse images on device so they could be kept in the cloud in an encrypted form without providing abusers a safe haven.