- The United Kingdom hit Apple with a new request for encryption butt, aimed only to the data of British users this time
- The authorities made a change of meaning about the previous demand in August, after the growing pressure of the United States
- Apple killed the end -to -end encryption function of ICloud in the United Kingdom in February, after receiving the first notice of technical capacity (TCN)
Just when Apple thought he had finally won the battle to save his advanced encryption in the United Kingdom, the authorities left a new order to demand a rear door to the cloud storage service of the great technological giant. This time, the data of British users are the only objective.
The home office first served Apple with a low technical capacity notice (TCN) The 2016 Research Powers Law in January, a request that led the American company to kill the end -to -end encryption function of ICLOUD in February to avoid building the requested rear door.
Fast advance until August, and the United Kingdom agreed to make a U turning after the growing pressure of US authorities. Despite being welcome, the decision left experts in digital rights with a bittersweet taste, since the power to undermine the encryption would remain in the United Kingdom law.
Now, less than two months later, experts’ concerns are well founded. As the Financial Times reported on Wednesday (October 1), the Interior Ministry issued a new demand for encryption in early September, which would only apply to the data of British citizens.
The Interior Ministry has refused to confirm or deny the existence of such order.
However, privacy activists see government demand as an assault on the privacy and safety of people who could ultimately have repercussions for the United Kingdom economy in general.
“Today is Apple, but tomorrow the secret demand of other companies could Robin Wilton, Senior Internet Director Society for Internet Trust. “The United Kingdom should not establish a precedent that endangers security, privacy and trust, either worldwide or at home.”
What is the order for users of the United Kingdom of Apple?
Talking to the Financial Times on Wednesday, Apple said that it is “severely disappointed” that the company cannot reintroduce its advanced ICLOUD data protection (ADP) for users of the United Kingdom.
Although it is not a predetermined feature, once enabled, the Protection of Advanced Data (ADP) of Apple provides an additional layer of protection in all data stored in ICloud by using end -to -end encryption technology, which means that you can not even apply the files. An additional security measure that the British have not been able to use for months.
However, as the company explains in an official blog post, all Apple’s communication services, such as Imessage and Facetime, remain encrypted from end to end worldwide, even in the United Kingdom.
However, “we are severely disappointed that the protections provided by ADP are not available for our clients in the United Kingdom, given the continuous increase in data violations and other threats to customer privacy,” Apple said.
We have never built a back door, and we will never do it
Apple
Encryption is a piece of crucial technology that the tastes of Signal, WhatsApp, Protonmail and even the best VPN applications use to protect our communications and private data from unauthorized access.
Events such as the attack of the salt typhoon in all the main telecommunications of the United States. UU. They have demonstrated, again and again, how the encryption is crucial for the privacy and safety of everyone’s data. Even FBI and CISA experts have asked citizens to change to encrypted services after this unprecedented cyberattack.
Matthew Hodgson, the Element CEO (a firm based in the United Kingdom that develops messaging and collaboration encrypted), points out how the United Kingdom government is not disturbed by how other nations and experts value end -to -end encryption.
He said: “This is not a matter of balance between safety and privacy. The weakening of the default encryption makes everyone less safe. It is impossible to create a ‘safe’ back door in an encrypted system. History has shown us that a rear door for the government is a back door for criminals to explode.”
That is exactly why Apple is still firm in position. “As we have said many times before, we have never built a back door or a master key for any of our products or services, and we will never.”
