- The United Kingdom hit Apple with a new request for encryption back door that only targeted British user data this time
- Authorities made a swing on the previous demand back in August after mounting pressure from the US
- Apple killed iCloud’s end-to-end encryption feature in the UK in February after receiving the first technical capacity message (TCN)
Just when Apple thought it had finally won the fight to save its advanced encryption in the UK, authorities fell a new order to demand a back door into the Big Tech Giant’s Cloud Storage Service. This time, British user’s data is the only goal.
The Home Office first earned Apple with a technical capacity message (TCN) under 2016 -Investigation Powers ACT back in January. A request that caused the US company to kill its iCloud’s end-to-end encryption feature in February to avoid building the requested back door.
Frist until August, and the United Kingdom agreed to make a U-turn after mounting pressure from US authorities. Despite being welcomed, the decision on digital rights experts left with a bittersweet taste as the power to undermine encryption would remain in British law.
Now, less than two months later, experts’ concerns turn out to be well -founded. As the Financial Times reported Wednesday (October 1), the Home Office issued a new encryption back door demand in early September, which would only apply to data from British citizens.
The Home Office has refused to either confirm or deny the existence of such an order.
However, privacy campaigns see the government’s demands as an attack on people’s privacy and security that could eventually have consequences for the British economy as a whole.
“Today is the apple, but tomorrow the same secret demand could have been made by other businesses. If global companies see Britain as a market where they have to weaken security, they can leave rather than lose their customers’ confidence,” said Robin Wilton, Internet Society’s Senior Director for Internet Trust. “The United Kingdom must not put a precedent to jeopardize security, privacy and trust, whether worldwide or at home.”
What does the order for Apple’s British users mean?
When he spoke with the Financial Times on Wednesday, Apple said it is “seriously disappointed” that the company will not be able to reintroduce its iCloud Advanced Data Protection (ADP) for UK users.
While not a default feature once enabled, Apple’s Advanced Data Protection (ADP) provides an additional layer of protection across all iCloud storage data using end-to-end encryption technology, which means not even Apple can access 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 communications services, such as iMessage and Facetime, remain encrypttered globally, including in England.
Nevertheless, “we are seriously disappointed that the protection provided by ADP is not available to our customers in the UK, considering the continued increase in data violations and other threats to the customer’s privacy,” Apple said.
We have never built a back door and we will never
Apple
Encryption is a crucial piece of technology that, like signal, WhatsApp, ProtonMail and even the best VPN apps use to protect our private communication and data from unauthorized access.
Events such as Salt Typhoon attack on all major US telecommunications have shown time and time again how encryption is crucial to privacy and security for everyone’s data. Even FBI and CISA experts have called on citizens to switch to encrypted services in the wake of this unprecedented cyberattack.
Matthew Hodgson, CEO of Element (a British-based company that develops encrypted messages and collaborative solutions), points out how the British government remains undisturbed by how other nations and experts appreciate end-to-end encryption.
He said: “This is not a matter of balance between security and privacy. Wraping encryption by default makes everyone less safe. It is impossible to create a ‘safe’ back door in an encrypted system. History has shown us that a back door for the government is a back door for criminals to exploit.”
This is precisely why Apple remains firm in its position. “As we have said many times before, we have never built a back door or master key for any of our products or services and we will never.”
