Apple’s 2022 decision to exclude Holocaust sites from its Memories feature raised red flags about memory management

Photo storage app features can determine which photos users are more often exposed to from within their collection. (Shutterstock)

In April 2022, Apple came under scrutiny when the Photos app was discovered to have blocked photos taken at sites related to the Holocaust. A team of journalists at the tech website 9to5Mac were analyzing an iPhone beta update, when they found a list of 12 “sensitive locations” set to be excluded from Memories.

These locations included the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp and the Berlin Holocaust Memorial. 9to5Mac described the block as an attempt to avoid the creation of “unwanted memories.”