The British Government requires access to Apple -Users’ encrypted data

The British government has demanded to be able to access encrypted data stored by Apple users around the world in its cloud service.

Currently, only the Apple account holder can access data stored in this way -the tech giant itself cannot see them.

Demand has been served by the Home Office in accordance with the Investigational Performance Act (IPA), forcing companies to provide information to law enforcement authorities.

Apple refused to comment but says on its website That it considers privacy as a “basic human right”.

Under the law, demand cannot be published.

The news was first reported by Washington Post Citation of sources that are familiar with the case and the BBC has spoken to similar contacts.

The Home Office said, “We do not comment on operational affairs, including, for example, to confirm or deny the existence of such messages.”

Privacy International called it a “unprecedented attack” on the private data from individuals.

“This is a match that Britain should not have chosen,” said the charity’s legal director Caroline Wilson Palow.

“This overreach sets a tremendously harmful precedent and will the office violent regimes around the world.”

Demand applies to all content stored using what Apple calls “Advanced Data Protection” (ADP).

This uses something called end-to-end encryption where only the account holder can access the stored data-even Apple itself cannot see them.

It’s an opt-in service and not all users choose to activate it.

This is because even if they make your data safer, they come with a disadvantage – it encrypts your data so strongly that they cannot be restored if you lose access to your account.

It is unknown how many people choose to use ADP.

It is also important to note that the government’s announcement does not mean that the authorities will suddenly start fighting through everyone’s data.

It is believed that the government wants to access this data if there was a risk of national security – in other words, it would be targeted at an individual, rather than using them for mass surveillance.

Authorities still had to follow a legal process, have a good reason and request permission for a specific account to access data – just as they do now with non -encrypted data.

Apple has previously said it would draw encryption services such as ADP from the British market instead of complying with such government requirements – to tell parliament that it would “never build a back door” in its products.

Cyber ​​security experts agree that when such an entrance point is in place, it’s only a matter of time before bad actors also discover it.

And pulling the product from the United Kingdom may not be enough to ensure compliance – the law of investigating powers uses worldwide for any tech company with a British market, even if they are not based in the UK.

Still, no Western government has yet been successful in trying to force large tech companies like Apple to break their encryption.

The US government has previously asked for this, but Apple has clearly denied.

In 2016, Apple opposed a court decision T.o Write software that would give us officials access to the iPhone of a gunman – although this was resolved after the FBI was successfully able to access the device.

The same year, USA dropped a similar case After it was able to access by discovering the person’s password.

Similar cases are followed, including by 2020, When Apple refused to unlock iPhones of a man who performed a mass shooting on an American aircraft base.

The FBI later said it had been able to “access” to the phones.

The technology giant may appeal to the government’s requirements, but cannot delay the implementation of the decision during the process, even if it is eventually overturned, according to the legislation.

The government claims that encryption allows criminals to hide easier, and the FBI in the United States has also been critical of the ADP tool.

Professor Alan Woodward, Cyber ​​security expert from Surrey University, said he was “stunned” by the news, and privacy campaigns Big Brother Watch described the reports as “troubled”.

“This misleading attempt to tackle crime and terrorism will not make Britain safer, but it will erode the fundamental rights and bourgeois freedoms of the entire population,” the group said in a statement.

UK Children’s Charity NSPCC has previously described encryption as being on the front line of children abuse because it allows abusers to share hidden content.

But Apple says the privacy of its customers is at the heart of all its products and services.

By 2024, the company contested changes in the law of investigative member and called it an “unprecedented overreaction” of a government.

The changes also included giving the government the power to veto new security measures before being implemented. They were passed in the law.

“The most important question that comes from such powers practiced is that it will unlikely to result in the result they want,” said Lisa Forte, Cyber ​​security expert from Red Goat.

“Criminals and terrorists just want to turn to other platforms and techniques to avoid incrimination. So it is the average, law -abiding citizen who suffers from losing their privacy.”