UK government asks Apple to give it backdoor access to encrypted user data
The UK government has used the Investigatory Powers Act (IPA) to issue Apple with a “technical capability notice” requiring the company to create a backdoor into its encrypted cloud services. The Home Office is specifically interested in bypassing the encryption that secures Apple’s Advanced Data Protection (ADP) service.
This cloud service includes a wealth of user data and, thanks to the use of end-to-end encryption, cannot be accessed by anyone other than the account holder. The UK government demand is part of legislation that forces companies to help law enforcement with investigations, but creating a backdoor would allow a level of access that even Apple does not currently have -- and there are concerns about the potential for abuse.
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The demand -- first reported by the Washington Post -- was issued secretly, and it has been described as amounting to a request for blanket access to user data. The legislation being used to try to force Apple to comply with the government request for access to encrypted data is also known as the Snooper’s Charter.
Despite originating in the UK, the blanket nature of the data access request means that Apple customers around the globe would be affected. But how likely is Apple to comply with the demand, especially given the company’s view that privacy is a “fundamental human right”?
While the company has not commented specifically on this latest request, it has previously spoken out against breaking encryption in this way saying it would “never build a backdoor”. Apple has also said that it would go as far as withdrawing “critical safety features” from the UK rather than comprise user safety and privacy. This seems like the most likely outcome.
There are, of course, numerous risks to the unprecedented introduction of an encryption-breaking backdoor, including the possibility of it being abused by bad actors or malicious government.