Is there any rational explanation why the UK government is demanding the change?
Authoritarian statism. They must have control over everything—including every thought.
I'm in the UK and it doesn't bother me in the slightest. ... What sort of things are people doing that they feel they need such security?
That's an incredibly myopic attitude, IMO. The State just loves people like you.
Ok, well, not loves. The State doesn't actually
love anybody. What it loves is control. Perhaps more accurate to say The State hates people like me and appreciates people like you.
Since the US is part of Five Eyes, I am sure they'd actually be happy to use the gathered insights from the UK.
Actually, I'm pretty sure I read a post, recently, where VP J.D. Vance suggested that if the EU and UK continue on their current courses towards increasingly oppressive statism the U.S. may stop sharing intelligence with Five Eyes. This would amount to a de facto withdrawal of the U.S. from Five Eyes.
Remember this fascist law was started by the Trump and alt right aligned fascist conservative government ...
Cites?
And btw: I don't know if you happened to notice: But much of Trump's cabinet is made of of disaffected ex-Democrats. Trump, himself, and Elon Musk are both disaffected ex-Democrats, as well.
This really has nothing to do with political parties. Indeed: One of the persistent campaigners for passing laws to mandate back door crypto access in the U.S. was no less than Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) - a "liberal."
Just turned this on because they don’t want me to
Great minds think alike
I'd actually meant to do it a while ago, but I had one device, an Apple TV that is currently not in use, that needed to be either updated or removed from the account, first.
This move by the UK got me off the dime.
Not far behind is the Ununited States of Trump.
Unlikely. In fact: Ever since
Salt Typhoon even the FBI, which has long-opined for a back door into everybody-and-their-brothers' encryption, has now changed it's tune.
Now comes's this:
US Legislators Want CLOUD Act Reform, Protected E2EE
(February 13, 14, & 15, 2025)
In a February 13 missive, US Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Representative Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) urged Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard “to act decisively to protect the security of Americans' communications.” In light of the UK's Technical Capability Notice (TCN) demanding access to Apple's end-to-end-encrypted (E2EE) user data, reportedly served in January 2025, the legislators stressed the risk to American citizens' and government agencies' data from an encryption backdoor, citing the 2024 Salt Typhoon breach of US wiretaps as an example of surveillance backdoors' inevitable compromise and exploitation. The lawmakers asked Gabbard to reconsider and restrict US-UK intelligence sharing and cybersecurity programs if the demand is not reversed. The missive also requests "unclassified answers" to questions about the Trump administration's awareness of the TCN, and its understanding of the Clarifying Lawful Overseas Use of Data (CLOUD) Act, specifically regarding "an exception to gag orders" and "obligation to inform Congress and the American public about foreign government demands for U.S. companies to weaken the security of their products." On February 14, Sen. Wyden released a draft bill aimed at reforming the CLOUD Act with measures to limit agreement terms, shift challenge and approval power toward US legislators and judiciary, and "Prevent foreign governments from using the CLOUD Act to require U.S. providers to adopt specific designs for products, reduce the security of a product, or deliver malware to a customer."
Wouldn't that be nice?
