UK demands access to Apple users' encrypted data

[Bistros]

Only last night I activated this feature.

This could be the thin end of the wedge with every country wanting access to every user's data stored on the cloud.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c20g288yldko

I don't possess a tinfoil hat - but I'm not entirely sure having every Country's Government having free access to the populations' files is an entirely good idea and is secure from the baddies of the world.

[giveitfish]

The gov, police and security services keep asking for this and they could not be more wrong.

It’s dumb, shortsighted thinking by people who are clueless about technology.

Any kind of backdoor at all makes the whole service insecure, it’s been demonstrated time and time and time again that any kind of weakness will be discovered and exploited in very short order.

[Dave Hedgehog]

giveitfish said:

The gov, police and security services keep asking for this and they could not be more wrong.

It’s dumb, shortsighted thinking by people who are clueless about technology.

Any kind of backdoor at all makes the whole service insecure, it’s been demonstrated time and time and time again that any kind of weakness will be discovered and exploited in very short order.

they dont care as long as they get to monitor everyone as well

[richhead]

Bistros said:

Only last night I activated this feature.

This could be the thin end of the wedge with every country wanting access to every user's data stored on the cloud.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c20g288yldko

I don't possess a tinfoil hat - but I'm not entirely sure having every Country's Government having free access to the populations' files is an entirely good idea and is secure from the baddies of the world.

I do have a tin foil hat, and have never and will never use any cloud back up, i just dont trust it.

[Baldchap]

I'm old skool enough to have had off-site W/M/Y tapes and a fire safe with the daily tapes in.

I still do largely the same with important data, albeit with faster storage these days.

[bmwmike]

Dave Hedgehog said:

they dont care as long as they get to monitor everyone as well

It'll never happen. It's so ridiculously blinkered that it's pointless, even if apple agreed to it, which they won't.

[Evanivitch]

giveitfish said:

The gov, police and security services keep asking for this and they could not be more wrong.

It’s dumb, shortsighted thinking by people who are clueless about technology.

Any kind of backdoor at all makes the whole service insecure, it’s been demonstrated time and time and time again that any kind of weakness will be discovered and exploited in very short order.

Theresa May spent her entire time in government persuing these backdoors into encrypted data and communication. It's such an incredibly stupid idea and yet advisors didn't seem to tell her.

It's not like government depends on AES256...

[Bistros]

nuyorican said:

Why are there two threads running on this?

There were no threads when I made the original post.

I’m happy for mine to be merged with another.

[Monsterlime]

I am happy for them to give it out, as long as I can get Keir Starmer's banking details in return (and maybe a few other bits of important information).

I wouldn't do anything nefarious with it, promise. Trust me, bro. /s

[camel_landy]

The joys of dealing with politicians, ignorant of how technology (or even mathematics) works.

Simply by passing legislation, they think the laws of maths & physics will do their bidding. <sigh>

M

[eein]

Bistros said:

This could be the thin end of the wedge with every country wanting access to every user's data stored on the cloud.

They already do. All countries have been asking for access to all providers for 20 years.

Bistros said:

I don't possess a tinfoil hat - but I'm not entirely sure having every Country's Government having free access to the populations' files is an entirely good idea and is secure from the baddies of the world.

The UK are not asking for free access, it's only for specific users and according to all sorts of processes and approvals. The same as they have to do for access to all sorts of other data and things like property.

It's all just the latest step in the age old debate of privacy versus security. I find it fascinating the balance of trust people have in their own governments versus big tech companies - it seems that governments' biggest failure is at marketing!

Go watch the excellent movie Sneakers and take note of the year it was made!

[bmwmike]

eein said:

The UK are not asking for free access, it's only for specific users and according to all sorts of processes and approvals. The same as they have to do for access to all sorts of other data and things like property.

It's all just the latest step in the age old debate of privacy versus security. I find it fascinating the balance of trust people have in their own governments versus big tech companies - it seems that governments' biggest failure is at marketing!

Go watch the excellent movie Sneakers and take note of the year it was made!

You're missing the point:, The mechanism that would allow this supposedly specific access would require backdoors that undermine the security of all users.

[giveitfish]

Yup, exactly this. Full end-to-end encryption means you no longer have to worry about Apple sys admins rifling through your data and more importantly protects against hackers getting it if they get inside Apples network.

These are not unlikely scenarios - anyone in the industry knows that outside hackers and malicious internal staff are constantly getting access to things they shouldn’t, it’s an ongoing and almost impossible to task to stop them.

[giveitfish]

Oddly, people are either unaware or don’t care. This thread has no traction at all. If it had been about something fundamentally irrelevant like the latest “woke” scare it would have 50 pages.

Compromised IT security will genuinely fk up your life at some point and our government seems determined to ensure we can’t stop that happening.

I guess it’s just too abstract a concept for most people to engage with? It seems remote but every month people lose the contents of their bank accounts and companies is go under due to cyber crime and the truth is hardley anyone is getting arrested for these crimes. Why make it easier for them?

Edited by giveitfish on Sunday 9th February 00:31

[768]

giveitfish said:

Oddly, people are either unaware or don’t care.

I think they're largely unaware, our media is appalling at covering this stuff, and blissfully ignorant if they do come across it. I suspect there may also be an element of Apple being seen as niche and for rich people, so they get carte blanche.

And then there's that this is just one tiny aspect to an already massively authoritarian government.

[IJWS15]

What the government is also unaware of - IF they got this access those they want to monitor would immediately stop using the platform.

[grumbledoak]

IJWS15 said:

What the government is also unaware of - IF they got this access those they want to monitor would immediately stop using the platform.

They know that.

They aren't stupid. It's not accidental. The mass surveillance is what they actually want.

[Tindersticks]

There is not a chance in hell of this happening.

[Evanivitch]

IJWS15 said:

What the government is also unaware of - IF they got this access those they want to monitor would immediately stop using the platform.

You sure?

I mean WhatsApp security concerns have been well known for years now, with even UK MOD switching to Signal. But, at least in my personal and professional experience, WhatsApp is still the default messaging app.

[Lucas Ayde]

Bistros said:

Only last night I activated this feature.

This could be the thin end of the wedge with every country wanting access to every user's data stored on the cloud.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c20g288yldko

I don't possess a tinfoil hat - but I'm not entirely sure having every Country's Government having free access to the populations' files is an entirely good idea and is secure from the baddies of the world.

Rubbish - Kier and his autocracy needs to be able to keep citizens safe and secure from wrongthink. You are now on some list.

The UK really is showing up as one of the most draconian states in the West. I guess now that the Americans have woken up a bit and started to become a little bit more freedom-oriented and nationalistic, the crowd of corrupt politicians in Europe (including the UK) have decided to double down on their globalist agenda.