Apple Pulls Encrypted iCloud Security Feature in UK Amid Government Backdoor Demands

[Will Co]

They want to be able to spy on people.

That's it. They'll make every excuse under the sun, talking about "protecting the children" or whatnot, but in the end, it's about spying on people.

I'm pissed off about this. There's a good chance it will happen in the US too considering the political situation here.

It's not what the law actually empowers the government to do. The Investigatory Power Act is exactly that - a facility for investigators - mostly the police and intelligence services - to be able to access a person's online data without having to go to that person and seek permission or tell them they're doing so. It doesn't enable the government to do anything. It's a power for law enforcement.

It also does not enable broad-brush snooping. The law requires a judge to sign off on a warrant for access and the authorities must provide specific reasons for requesting access on a case by case basis. In other words, the person must be a person of interest in a suitably serious incident.

All that being said, I'm also p*ssed off about this and I think it is a very bad move by the UK Government. I think Apple's response is exactly the right one, because it will put the matter between the people and the UK gov. By disabling ADP Apple will have complied with the order, but they won't have weakened the security for anyone outside of the UK.

 

[canadianreader]

Remember when encryption was in it’s infancy stage? Apple said once something has been encrypted by one of our users, we couldn’t unencrypt even if we wanted to.

My how the landscape has changed for Apple ladies & gentlemen. Shows once again nothing is guaranteed except death & taxes.

Data will magically unencrypted itself without a key

 

[ozaz]

It's really a bad thing and one more reason to not store sensitive data in any cloud!

You can encrypt the data yourself locally before you upload. This only affects people who rely on Apple tools (or more broadly, tools provided by their cloud storage provider).

 

[grantishere]

Apple should pull out of the UK market at this point

 

[contacos]

Make them prosecute. The UK relationship with the US is already on the downswing - I highly doubt they want to push things to losing Trident and more. Call their bluff.

Since the US is part of Five Eyes, I am sure they'd actually be happy to use the gathered insights from the UK. This way the US doesn't have to spy on their own citizens, they would have the UK do the job for them and then share it via the five eyes agreement

 

[parameter]

I think it's time for Apple to include a useful emoji for us to use in forums for these types of horrific stories, mostly regarding the EU. Well, there is already an emoji that I would use here to um give the finger to the EU, but it doesn't seem to be available in the emoji picker 😞

 

[Kylo83]

Our Labour government is a joke

 

[southnorth]

Apple should take out lots of ads to make sure people know why this happened.

Run a Herr Starmer campaign, even.

It was the previous government which first proposed this. I am very angry at this as it shows a complete lack of basic understanding of data privacy, a fundamental right. We will all now have a degraded service and nobody wins.

This coming from a government which is quite happy to use whatsapp for government business meaning there was no oversight of the data and how it was stored and managed.

I will be contacting my MP but I suspect it will do no good as most are ignorant. data privacy and security.

 

[Will Co]

What is so stupid about this whole thing is that anyone who understands the implications of storing sensitive information that might be used against them by law enforcement agencies is presumably savvy enough not to rely on third party solutions like Apple ADP.

For example, use an on-device encryption tool to encrypt the sensitive data on your device, keeping the key safe, and then just use the iCloud service to store backups of the encrypted file. Whether ADP is enabled or not, if that backup becomes accessible to the law enforcement agencies, it's encrypted, and of no use to them. So exactly the same as with ADP enabled. The only difference is that the user has to manage their key, rather than have Apple manage it for them using their own keychain.

And so switching off ADP solves nothing for anyone who understands how to keep their data safe.

I think this is what makes me so mad. It's totally unnecessary and just reinforces how governments seem to fundamentally misunderstand technology and repeatedly disregard the advice of their own experts.

 

[spartan1967]

They can't unencrypt it. That's why they're making the user do it by force.

Many people, like I did, took that encryption message from Apple as there would never be any change with this privacy, ever. You really didn’t get that from my post you quoted?

 

[9081094]

When this topic was mentioned first. Many of the commenters here believed Apple would pull out of the U.K. entirely. They said this was the time to show Apple’s color and stance on privacy.

Well… once again 💰💷💰💷 can change everything
…

 

[Radeon85]

Apple should pull out of the UK market at this point

That would be bad for business.

 

[visualseed]

Reporters are missing something with this story. If Apple had been asked to compromise encryption globally, pulling ADP from only the UK doesn't accomplish that at all. And even without ADP, Apple services are still E2EE. So should UK users regard this move as confirmation that Apple is complying with mass surveillance of UK users?

Probably a sign that the UK government doesn't have jurisdiction over foreign citizens not within its borders and now that the cat's out of the bag they are just going to have to settle for this.

The only question I have is what happens to my iCloud account with ADP if I travel to the UK?

 

[turbineseaplane]

When this topic was mentioned first. Many of the commenters here believed Apple would pull out of the U.K. entirely. They said this was the time to show Apple’s color and stance on privacy.

Well… once again 💰💷💰💷 can change everything
…

They were never going to "pull out of the UK"

Amazing to me people post stuff like that ... just emotional reactions I guess

Luckily Tim isn't operating off emotional vibes

 

[Will Co]

I will be contacting my MP but I suspect it will do no good as most are ignorant. data privacy and security.

Me too. And yes, I expect a totally inappropriate and technically illiterate reply. But I'll do it anyway, and so should everyone else in the UK.

 

[krspkbl]

I've just disabled it. Looks like I would have to do it sooner or later anyway if I want to keep my data/account.

Disappointed in my country right now. This is dangerous.

 

[Patchwork]

When it says 'new users' does that mean existing user are fine? Don't quite get that bit... if I don't turn it off am I removed?

New users can’t switch it on from 3pm today and existing users will be required to switch it off in the near future to comply with the UK government’s requirements. Apple hasn’t said when this will be for existing users, just that they can’t disable this remotely as it’s an on device setting. I’ve no idea what would happen if you didn’t switch it off though.

 

[nostradumbass]

Remember this fascist law was started by the Trump and alt right aligned fascist conservative government and the fake left has continued it.

Why do they want to harm your privacy?

I will tell you. It’s no conspiracy theory. It’s in front of your eyes.

They are going to price gouge citizens and rent gouge citizens to absolute death. They are already doing this in many countries. You are facing a slow bleeding to death. They do not call this mass murder. They just call is inflation and “free market forces”.

Once they have bled all the money out of you they will push you to self harm and anger. Then they will label you terrorists, nazis or communists. They will need easy access to all your private data so that they can silence you and prevent you from anonymously expressing anger or organizing protests.

After they have dealt with citizens, bombed and arrested protesters, they will replace all those citizens with third world immigrants who will never complain and will work for dirt level wages.

Anyone who complains will be labelled racist by both fake left media and conservative slave runner media.

 

[krspkbl]

Will also be emailing my local MP. Again like said above I don't expect anything to happen but it's better than nothing.

 

[CJM]

Make them prosecute. The UK relationship with the US is already on the downswing - I highly doubt they want to push things to losing Trident and more. Call their bluff.

Honestly I agree. But I think it’s a criminal liability rather than just business or civil. That’s how draconian and ridiculous it is.

 

[Velin]

The United Kingdom is a disgrace. Apple, your customers stand with you. I want every Apple member to read this: when making future purchase decisions, we will remember how you opposed the horrendous United Kingdom government’s attempt to eviscerate privacy and security.

Keep the Macs, iPhones, tablets, watches, and all the software apps and services coming. We buying and using long into the future.

 

[krspkbl]

New users can’t switch it on from 3pm today and existing users will be required to switch it off in the near future to comply with the UK government’s requirements. Apple hasn’t said when this will be for existing users, just that they can’t disable this remotely as it’s an on device setting. I’ve no idea what would happen if you didn’t switch it off though.

They could just delete your data? They might not be able to decrypt it but they can delete it off their servers.

That'll force people to turn it off so they don't lose all their photos, notes, etc.

 

[spartan1967]

That would be bad for business.

Which seems to be why Apple, once again, capitulated.

 

[turbineseaplane]

The United Kingdom is a disgrace. Apple, your customers stand with you.

What does that even mean?

Government level demands like this will win the day, worldwide

What are we going to do if the US government makes the same demand?

 

[PowerButton]

Don’t sync your sensitive data to iCloud if you live in the UK. You never know what malicious party will gain access and use it nefariously.