Latest news with #FredSainz
Times of Oman
22-02-2025
- Times of Oman
Apple disables end-to-end encryption for UK iCloud users amid govt pressure
London: In a move that has sparked widespread concern, Apple has announced that it will no longer offer end-to-end encryption for iCloud users in the United Kingdom, TechCrunch reported. The decision comes after the UK government reportedly ordered Apple to build a backdoor into its cloud servers, allowing authorities to access encrypted data. Apple's Advanced Data Protection (ADP) feature, which provided end-to-end encryption for iCloud backups, will no longer be available to new users in the UK. Existing users will eventually be required to disable the feature to continue using iCloud. In a statement to TechCrunch, Apple spokesperson Fred Sainz expressed disappointment and said the company's Advanced Data Protection feature will no longer be available to new users. Current UK users "will eventually need to disable this security feature." The company expressed its disappointment with the decision, citing the growing need for enhanced security measures to protect user data. "We are gravely disappointed that the protections provided by ADP will not be available to our customers in the UK given the continuing rise of data breaches and other threats to customer privacy," the company said. "Enhancing the security of cloud storage with end-to-end encryption is more urgent than ever before," the statement said. The move has been criticized by privacy and security experts. They see it as unprecedented in a modern democracy and argue that it sets a dangerous precedent for governments to demand access to encrypted data, the demand would set a precedent for authoritarian countries to follow, TechCrunch reported. "The Home Office's actions have deprived millions of Britons from accessing a security feature," said James Baker of the Open Rights Group. "As a result, British citizens will be at higher risk of their personal data and family photos falling into the hands of criminals and predators," he added. Apple offers users the option to turn on end-to-end encrypted iCloud backups through Advanced Data Protection. This feature effectively makes it impossible for anyone, including Apple and government authorities, to view data stored in iCloud by users who have opted in. Meanwhile, the UK Home Office spokesperson did not immediately respond to TechCrunch's request for comment. Apple did not immediately say how the process of disabling ADP would work for users who had already turned it on before Friday, TechCrunch reported. Apple has assured users that some types of data, including health data, messages, and payment information, will remain end-to-end encrypted and unaffected by this change. However, UK users will no longer be able to opt-in to use end-to-end encryption for other types of data, such as photos, notes, and backups. For current UK users with ADP enabled, Apple said it will give customers more guidance soon, as well as a period of time to disable the feature to keep using iCloud. The company has also emphasised its commitment to user privacy and security, stating that it has never built a backdoor or master key to any of its products or services and never will. "As we have said many times before, we have never built a backdoor or master key to any of our products or services, and we never will," Apple said, linking to its prior statements.
New York Times
21-02-2025
- Business
- New York Times
Under Government Pressure, Apple Pulls Security Feature in Britain
Two years after Apple introduced an encrypted storage feature for iPhone users, the company is pulling those security protections in Britain rather than comply with a government request that it create a tool to give law enforcement organizations access to customers' cloud data. Starting on Friday, iPhone users in Britain will begin seeing a message on their phones saying Apple can no longer offer its Advanced Data Protection feature. The capability allowed users to encrypt almost all of their iCloud data, making messages, notes, photos and iPhone backups indecipherable, even when the information was stored in cloud computing centers. Apple is removing the feature after the British government demanded the company create a back door that would allow intelligence agencies and law enforcement officials to retrieve iPhone user data from data centers around the world, according to two people familiar with the request, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the British government's demand. The government request came in a secret order early this year, after Britain amended its Investigatory Powers Act of 2016, which allows it to compel companies to turn over data and communications to law enforcement and intelligence agencies. Last year, Apple protested the amendments in a submission to Parliament, saying it could give the British government power to issue secret orders to break encryption services and create a back door into software products. By eliminating the feature, Apple hopes that the British government will drop its request that it create a back door to users' cloud data, the people said. But there is a chance that the British government could continue to press for that access, arguing that people who might use the service overseas pose a threat to British interest. 'We are gravely disappointed,' Fred Sainz, an Apple spokesman, said in a statement. He said Advanced Data Protection had offered British customers protection against hacks and security breaches. 'As we have said many times before, we have never built a back door or master key to any of our products or services, and we never will,' Mr. Sainz added. The British Home Office didn't immediately have a statement. The Washington Post previously reported on the British government's request. Apple's elimination of Advanced Data Protection turns back the clock on the amount of iPhone users' data that is accessible to the British authorities. Before its introduction, Apple had refused to assist law enforcement in unlocking iPhones, but it fulfilled requests for iCloud backups that included unencrypted messages and photographs. The gap in Apple's encryption in data centers made it possible for law enforcement to obtain confidential messages in high-profile cases. In the United States, law enforcement officials were able to request the iCloud backup of Paul Manafort, chairman of President Trump's 2016 campaign. The request gave them access to Mr. Manafort's WhatsApp messages, which were used to build a case against him. For years, Apple resisted fully encrypting iCloud data because it wanted to make it easier for customers to retrieve their information if they were locked out of their accounts. But as data breaches around the world increased, the company moved to expand its encryption offerings in 2022 with Advanced Data Protection. The feature is optional and must be turned on by users. The clash between Apple and the British government is reminiscent of the fight the company had with the Federal Bureau of Investigation in 2016 over access to an iPhone used by an attacker who had killed 14 people in San Bernardino, Calif. The F.B.I. wanted Apple to unlock the attacker's iPhone, but Apple refused. The government eventually gained access with help from a hacking firm. In the years since, Apple has marketed its devices as more private than competitors, promising that what is on an iPhone stays on an iPhone. The company aired a commercial last year showing surveillance cameras, which are common on British streets, flying around and looking over people's shoulders as they look at their phones. When iPhone users open their Safari browser, the cameras explode. Views on encryption have shifted across the U.S. government after a recent sophisticated breach of American telecommunications. During last year's election, a hacking operation linked to the Chinese government by a group called Salt Typhoon targeted the devices of Mr. Trump and JD Vance, his running mate. Afterward, the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency urged smartphone users to use encrypted communication systems. 'Encryption is the glue and mortar that holds the bricks of our digital lives together,' said Joseph Lorenzo Hall, a distinguished technologist at the Internet Society, a nonprofit that advocates the infrastructure of the internet. 'This would lead to not only collapses but catastrophic collapses.'
