Ammon News - Privacy experts have sounded the alarm about a new Apple feature which was introduced allegedly without informing or asking users.

The Enhanced Visual Search feature allows users to search for landmarks and points of interest in their photos but requires sending some photo data to Apple’s servers.

Mac and iPhone customers discovered this feature enabled by default just days after Christmas, with some software and privacy experts immediately switching off the tool.

Enhanced Visual Search enables Apple to capture, encrypt and then centrally analyse parts of users’ photos, allowing key landmarks to be identified and then searchable.

Although commentators have noted that the feature’s encryption of the photos and image data means that user privacy is not being violated, others have raised concerns about its implications for privacy and the secretive way it was introduced.

Software developer Jeff Johnson said: ‘This choice was made by Apple, silently, without my consent.

Matthew Green, a privacy expert and cryptography professor at John Hopkins University, said: ‘It’s very frustrating when you learn about a service two days before New Year and you find that it’s already been enabled on your phone.’

The function, which is believed to have arrived with iOS 18.1 and macOS 15.1 on October 28, 2024, was first revealed to the public four days earlier.

Apple defended the privacy of its feature in a document published at the time: ‘At Apple, we believe privacy is a fundamental human right. Metro