Apple has built its reputation as a privacy-conscious brand through various marketing efforts. However, a new feature in iOS 18 has raised concerns about the company’s handling of user data, especially with regards to photos. Developer Jeff Johnson’s report reveals that iPhones and Macs running iOS 18 and macOS Sequoia are sharing photo data with Apple by default, potentially without users’ explicit consent.
The feature, known as “Enhanced Visual Search,” is automatically activated in Apple’s latest software updates. It offers users detailed information about landmarks in their photos but requires certain image data to be shared with Apple for processing.
What is Enhanced Visual Search?
This feature uses machine learning to analyze images and identify landmarks. For example, when you take a photo of a well-known monument, the system scans the image for recognizable landmarks and generates a vector embedding—a digital representation of the image’s features. This embedding is then encrypted and sent to Apple’s servers, where it is compared against a global database to identify the landmark.
What’s the purpose of this feature?
Enhanced Visual Search is designed to enhance the Photos app experience by providing users with quick access to information about landmarks in their photos. By swiping up on a photo of a recognizable building, users can view its name and other related details, making the photos more informative and easier to search within the app.
How Serious is this Concern?
While Apple asserts that data is anonymized through on-device processing and encrypted vector embeddings, the automatic sharing of photo data raises legitimate privacy concerns. Since the feature is enabled by default, users may unknowingly share their information. While some may not find this troubling, others might feel uneasy about not having to explicitly consent to the data-sharing process.
The vector embeddings, which are condensed digital representations of images, are transmitted to Apple’s servers for database comparison. Apple claims the data is not personally identifiable, but the process still involves sending image-related information to the company. This raises questions about whether Apple’s practices align with user expectations regarding privacy and control over their data.
Apple’s technical explanations may be difficult for the average user to understand, and the default opt-out setup reflects a lack of transparency in the company’s privacy approach.
How to Disable This Feature on iOS 18 and macOS Sequoia
If you’re concerned about your photo data being shared with Apple, you can turn off this feature.
On iOS 18:
Go to Settings > Apps > Photos, then scroll to the bottom and toggle off Enhanced Visual Search.
On macOS Sequoia:
Open the Photos app, go to Settings, and disable the Enhanced Visual Search feature.
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