Apple has said it will remove services such as FaceTime and iMessage from the UK rather than weaken security if new proposals are made law and acted upon in the country, reports BBC.
The proposals, which are currently being consulted on by the UK government, plan to make amendments to Investigatory Powers Act (IPA) 2016. It basically asks messaging services to weaken their encryption in order to allow law enforcement access to messages.
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Apple has said that it would not comply with these proposals, as they would make its devices less secure and would undermine the privacy of users outside the UK.
Apple in a submission to the government wrote that the said proposal would “make the Home Office the de facto global arbiter of what level of data security and encryption are permissible” (Via The Guardian).
The UK government’s proposals
The government wants to make amendments to its existing Investigatory Powers Act 2016. This act provides a framework for the use of investigatory powers by the security and intelligence agencies, law enforcement and other public authorities and encompasses powers such as the interception of communications, retention and acquisition of communications data, equipment interference for obtaining communications and other data and retention and examination of bulk personal datasets.
The latest proposed amendment wants messaging services to get security features approved by the Home Office before releasing them to masses. the act gives powers to Home Office to demand disabling of security features without telling the public. Under the update, this will have to be done immediately by the messaging services without any review. In the current system, there has to be a review. There can also be an independent review process and a technology company can appeal before taking any action.
Apple’s response
Apple says that it will not drop its security guardrails for one country as it would weaken the product. Some updates will require issuing a software update which can’t be done secretly. Apple also says that the proposals “constitute a serious and direct threat to data security and information privacy” that would impact people outside the UK.
If Apple were to follow through on its threat, it would have a significant impact on iPhone users in the UK. FaceTime and iMessage are two of the most popular messaging apps in the world, and they are used by millions of people in the UK every day.
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