US tech firm says giving government oversight of security changes could endanger encrypted products
Apple has said planned changes to British surveillance laws could affect iPhone users’ privacy by forcing it to withdraw security features, which could ultimately lead to the closure of services such as FaceTime and iMessage in the UK.
Everyone commeting here saying “good, we will switch to X” is absolutely stupid. This law means no iMessage, no Signal, no WhatsApp, no Telegram, no secure encrypted messaging for anyone.
Okay, try explaining it to my 51 years old father. Or someone who really isn’t into tech in general.
Federated stuff will work for you and I - technically knowledgeable people. But we are a tiny fraction of population. The success of WhatsApp lays in its super simplicity.
Great! If you’re technical and not have iOS. That’s already 50% of British market not using it.
Besides, it won’t help you if that’s a government mandate, and Google will be forced to take it down for the UK market from the store. Not a lot of people are installing apps from outside the Play Store.
I think you underestimate the deep stupidity and tech-ignorance of our politicians, coupled with their burning desire to know everything that we do. This is a set of people who think hidden == illegal.
This is a set of people who think hidden == illegal.
This is a fundamental shift in mentality that has occurred over the last 30 years and it's startling how many average people have bought in. There doesn't need to be a reason for something to be legal, rather there needs to be a compelling reason for it not to be. People have stopped viewing freedom as fundamental right, but rather as something granted to them by the government on a case by case basis.
Why do they not see that encryption can happen in any form of communication even if they do get their backdoors? Are they going to make all encryption illegal?
Did you even read the article? They are refusing to allow the British government to control the encryption standards used by the entire world. They are also not the only company to make this decision. Any company using E2EE will be affected.