https://pilabor.com/blog/2022/01/access-and-recover-files-fr...
Nowadays I'd use immich or ente.io, which has and e2e encryption cloud as well as self-hosted setup
Could it all be made into a sd card image for a pi zero perhaps? Even with a web ui accessible over Wi-Fi? A basic cheap sync-cable-appliance that non-techies can easily use?
This project lets you download from the latter: https://github.com/icloud-photos-downloader/icloud_photos_do...