A new feature in iOS 18 can share your photos with Apple. Here's how it works, whether you should be concerned, and how to turn it off if you'd prefer.The Latest Tech News, Delivered to Your Inbox

A new feature in iOS 18 shares users’ photos and photo data with Apple by default, a setting that has raised concerns about privacy. Called “Enhanced Visual Search,” the feature allows the “device to match places in your photos with a global index maintained by Apple” in order to search photos based on landmarks and other information within photos.

Indeed, Apple has only talked about the feature in a privacy notice and a technical blog post on encryption. This feature relies on both local and cloud processing to help place your photos in the world.

What is Enhanced Visual Search in Apple Photos, and why does it have privacy advocates concerned about its implementation?

To install iOS 18.2, users should first back up their iPhone, update to iOS 18.1.1, charge their device to at least 20%, connect to Wi-Fi, and check for sufficient storage. The update can then be installed via Settings > Software Update by tapping Update Now.

Apple Intelligence is definitely the headliner when it comes to iOS 18.2, the most recent update to Apple's iPhone software. But the list of new features doesn't end with Image Playground, Genmoji and any of the other AI-powered tools that iOS 18.2 brings to the table.

Data privacy has always been a key selling point for Apple products. The company even carried its philosophy over to the implementation of AI in iPhones, which could be affecting performance. However,

The world is evolving, and so is the field of cyberattacks. In this ever evolving world, the topic of privacy is often talked about. Some people take it very seriously, and some have a chill approach towards it.