Apple Ordered by UK to Create Global iCloud Encryption Backdoor

[JosephAW]

And now you know why Apple is working with the Trump administration and Cook was at the inauguration. Trump will force the UK to walk this back just like Canada, Mexico, Columbia and Panama. China is a lost cause, they already have iCloud access.

 

[chenks]

How bad is this exactly for a dude that lives outside of UK?
Genuine question idk

for someonce in Iceland, pretty bad.
especially if it gives someone control of volcanoes

 

[DominikHoffmann]

This is insane. Absolutely not acceptable. What is this ? The old USSR or the United Kingdom ?

Well, yes, that’s exactly what it is. Under the Five Eyes alliance this allows the U.S. to outsource spying on U.S. citizens to deemed-friendly foreign countries. It’s a way to get around the illegality of the U.S. government’s spying on U.S. citizens. I bet USAID had a hand in it, as they did in the European DMA legislation.

Of course, the U.K. government benefits, too. Not sure, whether their MI5 and MI6 are legally prohibited to turn their powers and capabilities on their subjects.

Let’s hope that the Trump Administration unravels all of that. Exposing USAID is a great start. For those of you who are suspicious of the yammering of the likes of Samantha Powers, the work of Mike Benz at the Foundation for Freedom Online may be an antidote.

 

[DrJR]

Rubbish.

 

[j26]

And now you know why Apple is working with the Trump administration and Cook was at the inauguration. Trump will force the UK to walk this back just like Canada, Mexico, Columbia and Panama. China is a lost cause, they already have iCloud access.

Have you considered that Trump may have instigated this?

As part of Five Eyes the US would have access to the data, so they'd have access, but not have to shoulder the blame

 

[orbital~debris]

😯
There's a lot to unpack decrypt here…

 

[JosephAW]

Honestly those at UK gov who ask such an abusive request should be fired on the spot.
It shows a lack of tech intelligence and abusive power. That is totally unacceptable.

A lot of them will be exposed when hidden deals and money laundering are made public like the usaid is being made public.

 

[DBZmusicboy01]

Fascism!! That’s their goal just like in Trůmp’s America.

 

[surferfb]

pretty low bar though for US news sources.

let's wait for more reputable sources not owned by Jeff Bezos.

You seem to be in denial about what your own government has the power to do. As someone who is recently frequently in denial about the bad things his government is doing, I empathize.

The law passed in 2016, and an amendment passed last year. Apple spoke out against it at the time. UK government spokespeople have spoken out against end-to-end encryption. The law allows the government to do this without telling anyone, and makes it a crime for Apple to tell anyone the request happened.

Why on earth would the journalists Washington Post risk its sterling reputation to make up a story like this? Why would US national security officials confirm it? If it didn’t happen, why isn’t Apple saying it didn’t happen? Why is the UK’s response “we won’t confirm or deny” vs. “that’s ridiculous, we don’t have the power to do that”?

 

[JosephAW]

Apple could figure out a way to bypass this and move to a new paradigm where you can purchase an iCloud storage device and put it in your home and all your data is stored locally with and end to end encryption instead of being stored on servers out on the internet.

 

[Mr_Ed]

How bad is this exactly for a dude that lives outside of UK?
Genuine question idk

Questions of jurisdiction are way above my pay grade, but if some in the UK feel justified in threatening prosecution across borders over social media posts, demanding access to encrypted data for all users, as suggested in this rumor doesn’t seem that far fetched.

 

[DominikHoffmann]

People are worried about Donald Trump when Keir Starmer is the real threat to Western democracy.

Head over to Ars Technica, and you’ll find a readership much more salutary of such efforts, because, don’t you know, “We need to do something about misinformation!” People with opinions like mine are heavily downvoted and then hidden from the general discourse, and what remains is an MSNBC-like echo chamber.

It is refreshing to see this to be different here. I don’t mind differing opinions. We need to hear from one another more, not less. That’s how we ground ourselves in reality and dismiss the propaganda.

 

[paulvee]

People are worried about Donald Trump when Keir Starmer is the real threat to Western democracy.

Its not either/or.

 

[Chungry]

Nothing says failed state like the five eyes security apparatus. I hope they do this. Let's just accelerate, why stop at this point

 

[chenks]

You seem to be in denial about what your own government has the power to do. As someone who is recently frequently in denial about the bad things his government is doing, I empathize.

The law passed in 2016, and an amendment passed last year. Apple spoke out against it at the time. UK government spokespeople have spoken out against end-to-end encryption. The law allows the government to do this without telling anyone, and makes it a crime for Apple to tell anyone the request happened.

Why on earth would the journalists Washington Post risk its sterling reputation to make up a story like this? Why would US national security officials confirm it? If it didn’t happen, why isn’t Apple saying it didn’t happen? Why is the UK’s response be “we won’t confirm or deny” vs. “that’s ridiculous, we don’t have the power to do that”?

i'm not denying anything.
i'm saying we have 1 US based Bezos owne news paper reporting somehing which is full of "we've been told", "we've heard" with very little hard facts.

i'm sure us in the UK will be better versed about what happens in the UK than a US newspaper or yourself.

 

[nikon1]

F’CK these governments that just keep banking away at our Personal Freedoms and Privacy.

 

[Razorpit]

So much for personal liberties. I'd like to give Labour the benefit of the doubt and assume this is a holdover from the last government knowing how fast the civil service actually works but given the Tory 3.0 plan they are going with I wouldn't put it passed them.

We didn't vote for this.

People do all the time.

And they accuse China of being authoritarian.

They are.

How many times on MR have I asked for iOS TimeCapsule ?

What is that? Anything like Time Machine? I’m all for it but that’s kind of off topic here.

You seem to be in denial about what your own government has the power to do. As someone who is recently frequently in denial about the bad things his government is doing, I empathize.

The law passed in 2016, and an amendment passed last year. Apple spoke out against it at the time. UK government spokespeople have spoken out against end-to-end encryption. The law allows the government to do this without telling anyone, and makes it a crime for Apple to tell anyone the request happened.

Why on earth would the journalists Washington Post risk its sterling reputation to make up a story like this? Why would US national security officials confirm it? If it didn’t happen, why isn’t Apple saying it didn’t happen? Why is the UK’s response “we won’t confirm or deny” vs. “that’s ridiculous, we don’t have the power to do that”?

You lost me at “sterling reputation”. 😆

 

[tcgjeukens]

an unprecedented demand not before seen in any other democratic country.

I guess the #demand is a reaction of contemporary leadership to current global affairs. As a result: not so #unprecedented.
The #demand may also reflect the contemporary interpretation of the word #democratic.

 

[Chungry]

i'm not denying anything.
i'm saying we have 1 US based Bezos owne news paper reporting somehing which is full of "we've been told", "we've heard" with very little hard facts.

i'm sure us in the UK will be better versed about what happens in the UK than a US newspaper or yourself.

This is all semantics. The UK jails people for wrong think so it's only a matter of time before Apple concedes to this. And I'll bet part of Agenda 2030, even if unofficially, is a social credit score like China. I'd love to be proven wrong but it's gonna happen and it'll be tied into whatever global power creates to replace fiat currency in the digital realm. Wanna buy a coffee? Sorry your forum post was too spicy. Want to go to a specific part of town for groceries, ooooh sorry that forum post.

 

[Chungry]

I guess the #demand is a reaction of contemporary leadership to current global affairs. As a result: not so #unprecedented.
The #demand may also reflect the contemporary interpretation of the word #democratic.

"Democratic" is indeed laughable

 

[PowerButton]

Bad idea 🤦‍♂️

 

[ItsASpider]

It is only a matter of time before gatekeepers in the EU have to do the same thing ...

No it isn't...

 

[VulchR]

Apple could figure out a way to bypass thes and new move to a new paradigm where you can purchase an iCloud storage device and put it in your home and all your data is stored locally with and end to end encryption instead of being stored on servers out on the internet.

I wonder if iCloud could have two layers of encryption - one at Apple, which, if broken would still leave a second optional layer of encryption with an on-device local encryption key. Just wondering - I have no expertise in computer security...

 

[WarmWinterHat]

It is only a matter of time before gatekeepers in the EU have to do the same thing ...

I think it happening in the US, under the current administration, is much more likely, and very soon.

Regardless, it's time to start using the cloud less, and to start taking sensitive information offline, completely. Move it to air-gapped machines with zero connection to the LAN or internet.

 

[mystery hill]

I wonder if iCloud could have two layers of encryption - one at Apple, which, if broken would still leave a second optional layer of encryption with an on-device local encryption key.

That’s exactly what Advanced Data Protection is. The key used to decrypt data remains on-device. The UK government wants Apple to remove this form of encryption.