🔗 Apple’s privacy puzzle

PLUS: Elon’s tiny house costs $50k. August 11, 2021 [The Hustle] [The Hustle]( Be safe out there, Gen Z: According to the [FBI](, reported cyberfraud cases among those under 20 shot up 156% between 2017 and 2020 -- the largest increase of any demographic. The 60+ crowd is still the most vulnerable, though, with $966m in losses last year alone. Today’s rundown: - Privacy pickle: Why folks are upset that Apple is protecting children. - Slumlords beware: RentCheck is helping tenants recover their security deposits. - One odd dude: Elon Musk’s 375-square-foot house. Let’s do it. The big idea [Apple logo with eyeballs]( Apple’s conundrum: Protect children and maintain privacy There are 1B+ iPhone users in the world. Unfortunately, a percentage of those users traffic in child pornography (AKA CSAM, or child sexual abuse material). Last week, Apple made a big [move]( to stop the spread of CSAM. Apple will scan user iPhones… … for illicit photos, as reported by Daring Fireball’s [John Gruber](. Here is a simplified breakdown of the steps: - Apple has a database of CSAM from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) - Apple compares this database to encrypted photos uploaded to iCloud - If the minimum threshold of potential CSAM photos is not matched, Apple won’t decrypt the photos and there is no further action - If a minimum threshold of potential CSAM photos are matched, the account is flagged - At this point, a human will inspect the decrypted photos (e.g., it could be parents uploading lots of photos of their newborn) Here is the conundrum While combating CSAM is the noblest of goals, not everyone agrees with Apple’s unilateral approach. Will Cathcart -- the head of Facebook’s WhatsApp, which reported 400k+ CSAM cases last year -- says Apple [built]( a “surveillance system that could very easily be used to scan private content for anything they or a government decides it wants to control.” For example: China could ask Apple to flag all users that have photos of Tiananmen Square. Apple holds itself as the paragon of privacy Tim Cook has even [said]( privacy is a “human right.” Can it maintain this promise with the new CSAM initiative? To further clarify its position, Apple put out a 6-page [FAQ]( on Monday (in it, Apple says it will “refuse government demands” to track non-CSAM images). With the seriousness of this matter -- from all angles -- expect many more updates. [Share on Facebook]( [Share on Twitter]( [Send as email to a friend](mailto:?subject=The%20Hustle%20wrote%20something%20I%20think%20you%27ll%20like...%0A&body=Apple%E2%80%99s+conundrum%3A+Protect+children+and+maintain+privacy%0Ahttps%3A%2F%2Fthehustle.co%2F08112021-Apple-privacy%3Futm_campaign%3DApple%2BPrivacy%26utm_content%3D08112021-Apple-privacy%26utm_medium%3Demail%26utm_source%3Ddaily%0A%0AYou%20can%20subscribe%20with%20my%20link%20here%20to%20get%20the%20latest%20in%20tech%20and%20business%20daily:%0A [View on our website]( SNIPPETS NEW! Introducing our new and improved [Snippets](. You can now get extra snippets on your favorite topics. Follow the button below to get started. (It takes less than 30 seconds!) The US Senate passed a $1T infrastructure bill on [Tuesday](, with money allocated to broadband, EVs, and cybersecurity. The House still has to pass the bill and there are questions around new tax reporting requirements for crypto that may hold it up. Coinbase making coin: For Q2 2021, the crypto exchange reported revenue of $2.2B. More impressively, it notched a profit of [$1.6B](, up 49x vs. last year. Mint condition: An unopened “Super Mario Bros.” game made for the original 1985 console [sold]( for $2m, a new record for gaming collectibles. Maxing out the streams: Despite only pulling in $26.5m at the box office its opening weekend, HBO Max [says]( “The Suicide Squad” was its 2nd biggest release on the streaming platform. Twitter’s biased AI: A researcher [won]( $3.5k for finding that Twitter’s algorithm for cropping photos favors people with slim, youthful faces and lighter skin. Prime prizes: Amazon [announced]( prizes for its vaccine lottery, giving frontline employees the chance to win cars, vacations, and up to $500k cash. DJ Khaled voice *Another one*: Salesforce will [launch]( a video streaming product, with a slight catch: business-focussed content. It’s called...Salesforce+. Join the 89,401 others who are now enjoying extra, personalized snippets. Click the button👇 to choose your favorite topics and see your list grow in tomorrow’s email. [Personalize Your Snippets]( Rent Tech [graffiti]( The company that wants to make sure you get your security deposit back There’s an estimated [$45B]( sitting around in security deposits, but getting them back can be complicated. Enter RentCheck, the New Orleans-based startup that streamlines property inspections and just scored $2.6m in seed money, per [TechCrunch](. RentCheck facilitates remote move-out inspections in-app… … a feature that led to 1000% growth in RentCheck’s property stock over the course of the pandemic. Here’s how it works: - Property management companies pay a subscription fee, [starting]( at $5/mo. for 1-20 units - Tenants or employees use the app to complete guided inspections - Photos are time-stamped and stored in-app - When finished, both parties sign off Why it’s useful A survey from rental app Roost [found]( that over half of renters didn’t take move-in pics and weren’t sure about refund terms. One property manager told Roost that ~40% of renters end up challenging their refunds. An app like RentCheck creates transparency on both ends in a quick, automated way. See also: Other companies, like startup Rhino, are offering [security deposit “insurance”]( where renters pay a small monthly fee instead of a big deposit. [Share on Facebook]( [Share on Twitter]( [Send as email to a friend](mailto:?subject=The%20Hustle%20wrote%20something%20I%20think%20you%27ll%20like...%0A&body=The+company+that+wants+to+make+sure+you+get+your+security+deposit+back%0Ahttps%3A%2F%2Fthehustle.co%2F08112021-RentCheck%3Futm_campaign%3DApple%2BPrivacy%26utm_content%3D08112021-RentCheck%26utm_medium%3Demail%26utm_source%3Ddaily%0A%0AYou%20can%20subscribe%20with%20my%20link%20here%20to%20get%20the%20latest%20in%20tech%20and%20business%20daily:%0A [View on our website]( Well that’s interesting [Boxabl home]( Elon Musk’s $50k, 375-square-foot home There are probably very few people on Earth who would willingly live in a 375-square-foot prefab home if they had a net worth of ~$185B (and only paid a [3.27%]( true tax rate). Elon Musk is one of them. The tech titan has [reportedly]( been residing in a cozy foldable home on the SpaceX premises in Boca Chica, Texas. The home is built by Boxabl and goes for $49.5k Though the home’s resident was not officially confirmed as Musk, Las Vegas-based Boxabl said it installed one of its Casita homes for a “top secret customer” last November. Then, in June, Musk [tweeted]( that his primary home is a “kinda awesome” ~$50k house that he rents from SpaceX in Boca Chica. The company is gaining steam Boxabl has a 47k-person waitlist for its tiny home that takes just hours to set up and is light enough to be [towed]( by a Tesla. In June, Boxabl moved into a new 170k-square-foot [factory]( that’ll eventually have the production capacity to output 3.6k Casitas a year (it’s only built 3 so far). Aside from consumer housing, Boxabl [envisions]( its Casitas being used as [mobile hospitals](, shelters, and schools. [Share on Facebook]( [Share on Twitter]( [Send as email to a friend](mailto:?subject=The%20Hustle%20wrote%20something%20I%20think%20you%27ll%20like...%0A&body=Elon+Musk%E2%80%99s+%2450k%2C+375-square-foot+home%0Ahttps%3A%2F%2Fthehustle.co%2F08112021-Boxabl%3Futm_campaign%3DApple%2BPrivacy%26utm_content%3D08112021-Boxabl%26utm_medium%3Demail%26utm_source%3Ddaily%0A%0AYou%20can%20subscribe%20with%20my%20link%20here%20to%20get%20the%20latest%20in%20tech%20and%20business%20daily:%0A [View on our website]( Watch Now How much do you value your data? Sam and Shaan imagine life with no private information… … and discuss [the artist]( who got his house flipped by the Secret Service to make his point. Pod #201 hot topics: [Ikea hacking](, an influencer’s [$400m fitness app](, and an overlooked open-source [WordPress-meets-Substack competitor](. At the end, Sam also shares why he went 5x over budget for his spouse’s wedding ring -- and why you should, too. [Watch on YouTube →]( AROUND THE WEB 😮 Wild story: It’s rare, but Waipuhia Falls in Oahu, Hawaii,[becomes]( an upside-down waterfall when the winds are right. Here’s a[video]( of this trippy phenomenon. 🎶 Haha: Rick Astley’s “Never Gonna Give You Up” has hit [1B+ views]( on YouTube thanks to the incredible staying power of ”Rickrolling.” 🎹 Cool site: This [website]( matches music to whatever you type. Write a message, replay it, and share it with others. 📷 Wow: In “Faces of Century,” photographer Jan Langer [captures]( portraits of 100-year-olds in the same style as photos from their youth. 🎤 How to: You’ve heard of SEO, but how do you optimize your website for those who use voice search? Forbes has [11 expert tips](. ⚾ On this day: In 1929, Babe Ruth hit his [500th]( home run against the Cleveland Indians, who still won 6-5 against the Yankees that day. TRENDS SEO strategies billion-dollar brands use Want to add [3m website]( visitors a month? Nat Eliason is the founder of Growth Machine, an SEO agency that sets the strategy for billion-dollar brands like Adobe, Brex, and Intuit. In a 60-minute Trends lecture, Nat broke down exactly what you need to know about SEO to start ranking 1st on Google. You can access this 60-minute lecture for free. [Click here]( and enter your email to get access. If you like it, Trends has 40+ more lectures, 2k+ business ideas, and a community of 15k+ entrepreneurs and investors you can network with. See you on the inside. [Get Access →]( Meme of the day [Hard Mtn Dew cans] Source: Boston Beer Company OK, this actually isn’t a meme. But it might as well be. Yesterday, PepsiCo and Boston Beer Company announced the release of [Hard Mtn Dew](, an alcoholic version of… Mountain Dew. Just wow. SHARE THE HUSTLE [Hustle Cons Greatest Hits ebook]( Over the years, we’ve learned… secrets. 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