This seems like the flaw in the argument, yeah. iCloud isn't mandatory, of course, but most people do use it, so peoples' photos and things will be in The Cloud, anyway. Possibly several The Clouds; Google+ on iOS keeps badgering me to enable automatic photo uploading.
Hmmm.. Isn't it way easier for the feds to peek into the cloud for my data without even me knowing so that I'll keep giving them the data then to confiscate my phone and investigate it?
To me, it seems like this passcode thing is a good way to keep my data safe from thieves but from the govt.? don't think so.
This. In the coming years it will be increasingly convenient and perhaps mandatory to have your data on iCloud - if you want to backup, restore or find your devices. The latest iCloud upgrade allows for 1TB of data - it's easy to imagine having your entire laptop, phone, ipad up there in the near future. So physically preventing access to a single device is not nearly as important as protecting your entire digital life in the cloud. This announcement by Apple is a good sign, but it feels like the real battle for privacy from govt snooping will be in the cloud.
