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UK Government Issues New Order to Access iCloud User Data

contacos said:
I am just saying I was impressed that there were already so many cameras in the YEAR 2005. It's not as impressive now as most cities do it but back than it was like DAMN
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But we're not a "surveillance state". The cameras aren't there to surveil us.

We have cameras in my office, but there is no one sitting there watching them. They merely record people entering and leaving the office's main entrance. If there's an issue, the footage is there to review.

The UK is not a surveillance state.

And to whoever it was above who claimed the UK is a satanic state... JFC. Some people need to chill.
 
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darkpaw said:
But we're not a "surveillance state". The cameras aren't there to surveil us.

We have cameras in my office, but there is no one sitting there watching them. They merely record people entering and leaving the office's main entrance. If there's an issue, the footage is there to review.

The UK is not a surveillance state.

And to whoever it was above who claimed the UK is a satanic state... JFC. Some people need to chill.
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Not YET. This law would make it one.
 
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The UK is fast becoming a fascist dictatorship with that c*** Starmer, what with this and the Digital ID, in the guise that it's to stop illegal immigration/illegal workers. If that's the case then why should people who have lived in the UK all their lives need one. It's all about surveillance and controlling people and nothing else.
 
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Fatboy71 said:
The UK is fast becoming a fascist dictatorship with that c*** Starmer, what with this and the Digital ID, in the guise that it's to stop illegal immigration/illegal workers. If that's the case then why should people who have lived in the UK all their lives need one. It's all about surveillance and controlling people and nothing else.
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The last government required anyone who wished to vote to have photo ID. If you remove the population that have digital ID to vote, then how many adults are left in the UK to force a digital ID on?
 
My view on this is Apple needs to fight and fight hard, and make sure that they use their significant marketing team to show how they are standing up for the privacy of the UK citizen. The last lot would've done exactly the same in terms of asking for the backdoors, as it's the security services and law enforcement asking for this via the Home Office.

The hundred million pound question is if Apple are the only one being forced to do this, how many of the other Cloud providers have already capitulated? You can guarantee that Google have, as have Amazon - DWP and HMRC (since the last government) have the powers to go into all your spending history as well.
 
surferfb said:
Adding NAS support would explode their support costs and QA burden to serve maybe 0.1% of users who are tech-savvy enough to actually configure it properly. From a business perspective, it's simply not worth the engineering resources and support headaches.
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So first you say it's not about the money. Then you conclude it's not worth it "from a business perspective"? Which one is it?

If we can't get a fully polished local backup experience from Apple, maybe they could create some useful basic APIs for third party developers to create paid products on top. There are plenty of solid companies that make a living providing backup solutions for macOS. I bet some of them would be interested in creating solutions for iOS.
 
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This is the country that allowed Jimmy Saville to do exactly what they claim they need this to prevent - child sexual abuse.
Saville was protected and allowed free rein while he lived. Why? Who else was in his circle?

They tell you it's for your own protection but you still get nonces and terrorist attacks after giving up your privacy.

This is the paranoia of the powerful.
 
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robvalentine said:
The penalising people for social media posts is for incitement, not just saying things. Lucy Connoly the far right's idol told people to burn down hotels with people inside. That's not sharing an oppinion, that's a crime whether in a pub, or on social media.

The Home office can do one with this invasion of privacy and overreach.
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Obviously that example is actionable. Seen lots of other examples where incitement was defined basically as stuff other people dont like.
 
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They Caught the grooming gangs red handed and they still didn't prosecute so why do they do need this access!

I really want the advance data protection back on.. its unfair we are missing out on a basic right of privacy..
 
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MilaM said:
So first you say it's not about the money. Then you conclude it's not worth it "from a business perspective"? Which one is it?
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Two things can be true at the same time:
  • Apple isn’t refusing to build this feature because Greedy Tim Cook trying to force people into iCloud storage subscriptions
  • Building it doesn’t make economic sense because the engineering and support costs would be massive relative to the tiny number of users who’d actually use it
That’s not a contradiction. There’s a difference between “we’re deliberately withholding a feature to extract money from customers” and “this feature would cost more to build and support than it’s worth.” The first implies malice, the second is just normal product prioritizarion.

MilaM said:
If we can't get a fully polished local backup experience from Apple, maybe they could create some useful basic APIs for third party developers to create paid products on top. There are plenty of solid companies that make a living providing backup solutions for macOS. I bet some of them would be interested in creating solutions for iOS.
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I’m not opposed to that idea, but I suspect Apple’s calculus is still the same: the ROI isn’t there.

Building public APIs for third-party backup solutions would still require significant engineering work to create APIs that expose enough of the system to enable complete device backups while maintaining iOS security, then maintaining those APIs across iOS versions and handling the inevitable edge cases.

Plus, as we all know, Apple is very reluctant to open up system-level APIs that could be misused or create security vulnerabilities, and backup APIs would need access to essentially everything on the device.
 
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I've set-up a UK petition here - I hope people will sign it!

Stop the Home Office demanding backdoor access to iCloud & similar technology.

The Home Office has revived a demand that Apple give the Government backdoor access to iCloud and end-to-end encryption on iPhones and similar technology. This would create a massive vulnerability which would put UK citizen data at risk. The Home Office needs to drop this demand. Immediately.

Security experts and Apple agree that a backdoor, once created, is a fundamental vulnerability. Even if intended only for UK access, it could be discovered and exploited by hackers, hostile states, or cybercriminals worldwide. Mandating the weakening of security features erodes global trust in UK-based online services and creates a less safe digital environment for all citizens, including those relying on encryption for business or personal safety (e.g., journalists, victims of domestic abuse).
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petition.parliament.uk

Petition: Stop the Home Office demanding backdoor access to iCloud & similar technology.

The Home Office has revived a demand that Apple give the Government backdoor access to iCloud and end-to-end encryption on iPhones and similar technology. This would create a massive vulnerability which would put UK citizen data at risk. The Home Office needs to drop this demand. Immediately.
petition.parliament.uk petition.parliament.uk
 
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darkpaw said:
So? I've lived in London for decades. I was evacuated from the Underground when the 7/7 bombings happened. Yes, there is CCTV all over the place, but do you think the authorities are sitting there viewing it and waiting for someone to drop some litter so they can send the police round to give us an on-the-spot fine? No.

They use the CCTV footage when a crime has been committed (for example to track a suspect's movements), or to provide real-time security and prevent a crime at an event (such as the state visit of a fat, demented, cankles-ridden buffoon).

London buses have multiple cameras on them, for the protection of the driver and passengers. Would you rather we get rid of them so we can't figure out who attacked a woman on the top deck, and can't find out where they ran off to? Cameras like that, and the footage from them, is used after the fact to help in solving crimes, not to actively surveil us.

In my decades of living in the UK, I have never been actively surveilled or tracked because I'm not a criminal."
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"but do you think the authorities are sitting there viewing it and waiting for someone to drop some litter so they can send the police round to give us an on-the-spot fine? No"

Unless you've been under a rock, you may have heard about a little thing called AI.
Centralising government surveillance networks and monitoring all feeds in real time is now a possibility. It's already being done.

That technology in itself isn't "evil", and it would certainly help in being proactive in stopping crime. The concern is how it's utilised by the government.

You need to realise that surveillance solutions that issues an infringement for littering will in fact be implemented in the western world over the coming decade.
 
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jdawgnoonan said:
I used to think living in the UK could be cool, but with their surveillance state, penalizing people for saying things in social media, and other insanity I no longer think that. Evidently living in the UK means the government deserves access to everything about you. I am not one who believes in the "If you aren't doing anything wrong you have nothing to worry about" argument.
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With regards to your social media comment. It works out that incitement to violence, racial hatred, murder or any other crime has been illegal since well before computers were designed.
 
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Devyn89 said:
Why is the Labour Party only far left in authoritarian ways but pretty right, or centre right on economics? What's the point of the current Labour Party? How is it different than the Conservative Party at this point?
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The Conservative Party exists to help friends and media barons to get and hold on to power. The Labour Party exists to empower working people.

Eg every time the Labour Party get in our health service gets funded properly and operates for working people to stay healthy.
Every time the conservatives get in funds are withheld, output drops and private health companies cream profits.
 
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