Graham Fraser
Technological journalist
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Two American legislators strongly condemned what they call the “dangerous” and “short-sighted” demand from the United Kingdom to be able to access the encrypted data stored by Apple users in the world in its cloud service.
Senator Ron Wyden and the member of the Andy Bigg Congress wrote to the National Director of Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard saying that demand threatens the privacy and security of the United States.
They urge him to give the United Kingdom an ultimatum: “Descend this dangerous attack on American cybersecurity, or face serious consequences.”
The BBC contacted the British government to comment.
“While the United Kingdom has been an ally of trust, the United States government should not allow what is indeed a foreign cyber attack led by political means,” American politicians wrote.
If the United Kingdom does not decrease Ms. Gabbard must “reassess the arrangements and cybersecurity programs of the United States-US as well as the sharing of American intelligence,” they suggest.
What is the United Kingdom looking for?
The request for data emerged last week.
It applies to all stored content using what Apple calls “Data Protection” (ADP).
This uses end -to -end encryption, where only the account holder can access the stored data. Apple himself cannot see him.
This is an opt-in service, and not all users choose to activate it.
The demand was reported for the first time by the Washington Post, citing sources familiar with the issue, and the BBC spoke to similar contacts.
The Ministry of the Interior then said: “We do not start operational questions, including for example confirming or denying the existence of these opinions.”
Apple refused to comment, but said on its website that he considers confidentiality as a “fundamental human law”.
The ordinance was served by the Home Office under the law on survey powers, which obliges companies to provide information to the law enforcement organizations.
Under the law, the request of the Ministry of the Interior cannot be made public.
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Senator Ron Wyden, the Democrat who represents Oregon, is one of the signatories of the letter to Tulsi Gabbard
Senator Wyden and the member of the Biggs Congress say that accepting him from the demand “would undermine the rights to the privacy of the Americans and expose them to espionage by China, Russia and other adversaries”.
They declare that Apple does not make different versions of its encryption software for each country in which it operates and, therefore, Apple customers in the United Kingdom will use the same software as the Americans.
“If Apple is obliged to build a stolen door in its products, this door -stolen door will be found in the phones, tablets and computers of the Americans, undermining the security of the data of the Americans, as well as the countless federal, state and local government agencies that Government agencies that dispute data sensitive to Apple products.
This decision by the British government amazed experts and worried about privacy activists, international privacy calling it “unprecedented attack” against private data from individuals.
However, the US government previously asked Apple to break its encryption in the context of criminal surveys.
In 2016, Apple resisted a court order to write software that would allow managers to access the iPhone of a shooter – although this was resolved after the FBI was able to access the device successfully .
The same year, the United States abandoned a similar case after having been able to access by discovering the access code of an alleged drug trafficker.
Similar cases followed, including in 2020, when Apple refused to unlock the iPhones of a man who made a mass shot on an American air base. The FBI later said that he was able to “access” the phones.
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The member of the Andy Biggs Congress is a republican who represents the state of Arizona
It is understood that the British government does not want to start painting through everyone’s data.
Rather, he would like to access it if there was a risk for national security – in other words, he would target an individual, rather than using it for mass monitoring.
Authorities should always follow a legal process, have a good reason and request authorization for a specific account in order to access the data – just as they now do with unacypted data.
Apple previously declared that it would draw encryption services as ADP from the British market rather than comply with such government requirements – indicating in the parliament that it “never built a rear door” in its products.
WhatsApp, owned by Meta, also said that he would choose to be blocked in relation to weakening messages safety.
But even the withdrawal of the product from the United Kingdom may not be sufficient to guarantee compliance – the law on survey powers applies worldwide to a technological company with a British market, even if they are not based.
