How would you feel if your unsaved files suddenly disappear? Would you blame apple for deleting files you explicitly chose to not save?
You were relying on a feature in an unusual and unintended way. Sooner or later, that may stop working.
The "unsaved files" being not synced to iCloud was never something that was meant to be guaranteed, it was just how it was.
What I'm suggesting is that by opting to explicitly save a file locally, you're giving more of a signal that you don't want it available remotely, compared to not saving a file at all.
I'm more interested in why the default behavior of internet users is so often to blame the victim.
Does it shift the danger of the world squarely onto those who couldn't ever possibly be you, as your internal narrative has you as perfectly informed at all times?
I'm a security-conscious engineer that's been using Apple hardware and software for two decades. Today, my computer took a bunch of private text and uploaded it without my knowledge or consent, completely contrary to my expectations.
Does it threaten your worldview to consider that perhaps I didn't do anything wrong?
(To answer your question directly: I would be annoyed but it wouldn't be the end of the world; I'd simply restore those files from backup as I knew where they were being autosaved previously. That's an entirely different ballgame than silently uploading them.)
I think if you had presented exactly the same data as the results of dispassionate research, you would have gotten a somewhat tepid, but appreciative response.
Because you presented it as a personal violation and unconscionable shock, many people are reacting with incredulity.
I don't think you did anything wrong, tactically, and I think this is an important discovery. I do think you need to rethink your strategy around private data though, because the course of user experience is at odds with your desires.
And you have the privilege of speaking of "the course of user experience" as if it's an undeniable course (or a user-driven movement, for that matter; which I daresay is not easily substantiated when we're on a topic of a decision of Apple engineering rolled out without warning) ... as a result of your dispassionate research?
We're talking about different things. Yes, I can say without hesitation that people want ("the course of user experience") document sync. Refutations welcome.
You might be trying to argue that people also want privacy or security in their document sync, but that has nothing to do with the matter at hand. iCloud is at least as secure as any other consumer sync service.
How would you feel if your unsaved files suddenly disappear? Would you blame apple for deleting files you explicitly chose to not save?
You were relying on a feature in an unusual and unintended way. Sooner or later, that may stop working.
The "unsaved files" being not synced to iCloud was never something that was meant to be guaranteed, it was just how it was.
What I'm suggesting is that by opting to explicitly save a file locally, you're giving more of a signal that you don't want it available remotely, compared to not saving a file at all.