Tim Cook: Apple won't weaken encryption, but is willing to cooperate with UK government

In a recent interview with the Irish Independent, CEO Tim Cook has once again said Apple will not weaken the encryption it uses in its mobile communication devices.

He did, however, say that the company he runs will work closely with the UK government to help create a quality legislation.

Tech companies have been going head to head with the UK and the US governments over encryption issues. While governments say it’s vital for law enforcement agencies to have a backdoor entrance into people’s devices so that crucial evidence related to possible criminal activity wouldn’t be left in the dark, tech companies aren’t keen on doing so.

By strengthening the encryption, they want to show that not only they’re not working with (for) the government, but also that they listen to what the consumers are saying. And the consumers are saying they want more encryption, and don’t want anyone, especially not the government, accessing their communications devices.

"The UK government has been clear publicly that they are not seeking to weaken encryption", says Cook. "And so I take them at their word that they would not do that. And at the moment as you know, we encrypt iMessage end-to-end and we have no backdoor. And we have no intention of changing that. Any change made would contradict the UK government’s view that they would not weaken encryption".

"I think that we’ll work closely with them. And I have every faith that through this process of the next year, give or take a year, that the bill will become very clear".

The full interview can be found on The Independent’s website.

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