From the news article I understood that this was an experimental setting, where participants were asked to perform actions in order to prevent data sharing with apple. From the news article I also interpreted that it is indeed "possible" (in the technical sense), but zero of the participants managed to get it right.
Being a software engineer / computer researcher / highly technical person (which puts them / us in a technical competent bubble), it might have been an actual surprise that zero participants managed to perform the task successfully. Add to that that they might have sourced participants from the student community in a technical university, and I don't see why their surprise is "theatrical"
Edit: As expected, quoting the original article: "The participants were recruited using the following methods: (1) posts on the university’s official LinkedIn page and (...)
Participants represented a wide variety of educational and professional backgrounds, including Computer Science
and IT, Architecture, Business Administration, Art and Design, Industrial Engineering, Economics, Research and Development, and unemployed participants (...)"
Being a software engineer / computer researcher / highly technical person (which puts them / us in a technical competent bubble), it might have been an actual surprise that zero participants managed to perform the task successfully. Add to that that they might have sourced participants from the student community in a technical university, and I don't see why their surprise is "theatrical"
Edit: As expected, quoting the original article: "The participants were recruited using the following methods: (1) posts on the university’s official LinkedIn page and (...)
Participants represented a wide variety of educational and professional backgrounds, including Computer Science and IT, Architecture, Business Administration, Art and Design, Industrial Engineering, Economics, Research and Development, and unemployed participants (...)"