The OP is evidence. My phone had it turned on which I think is evidence. Together this feels like reasonably strong evidence but maybe something even stronger is easy to find. Vaguely related: https://markxu.com/strong-evidence
I think both of you had it turned on from past OS installs - it's bundled under other search metadata, the config isn't new to 18. And "it's on and I don't remember agreeing" is absolutely not evidence. This is super common - nobody remembers what they enabled a year ago.
Think about it this way: for people who turn off any & everything that phones home (aka anyone who is frustrated by this new "feature"), the chances of them having turned on something like that upon install is almost nil.
The OP is evidence. My phone had it turned on which I think is evidence. Together this feels like reasonably strong evidence but maybe something even stronger is easy to find. Vaguely related: https://markxu.com/strong-evidence
I think both of you had it turned on from past OS installs - it's bundled under other search metadata, the config isn't new to 18. And "it's on and I don't remember agreeing" is absolutely not evidence. This is super common - nobody remembers what they enabled a year ago.
> I think both of you had it turned on from long past OS installs.
It's a brand new feature of iOS 18 and macOS 15. It did not exist in iOS 17 or macOS 14.
Moreover, my macOS 15 volume was a totally fresh, clean install on a test Mac.
1 reply →
Think about it this way: for people who turn off any & everything that phones home (aka anyone who is frustrated by this new "feature"), the chances of them having turned on something like that upon install is almost nil.