UK government holds secret meeting about plans to access encrypted data on Apple devices
There’s a lot of controversy about the US government practices right now, but the UK government seems up to some sneaky, questionable practices.
Apple’s appeal against a UK government demand to be able to access its customers’ most highly encrypted data is set to be considered at a secret hearing at the High Court on Friday, according to the BBC. It’s due to be considered by the Investigatory Powers Tribunal – an independent court which has the power to investigate claims against the UK intelligence services.
In a very stupid (IMHO) move, on February 7, the British government ordered that Apple give it blanket access to all encrypted user content uploaded to the cloud. The Washington Post (a subscription is required to read the article) said the secret order requires blanket access to protected cloud backups around the world and, if implemented, would undermine Apple’s privacy pledge to users,
On February 21, Apple said it had removed its Advanced Data Protection iCloud feature from the United Kingdom after government demands for backdoor access to encrypted user data, Customers who are already using Advanced Data Protection, or ADP, will need to manually disable it during an unspecified grace period to keep their iCloud accounts. Apple said it will issue additional guidance in the future to affected users and that it “does not have the ability to automatically disable it on their behalf.”
The UK government says it needs to be able to see it if there is a national security risk, according to the BBC. But why the secret meetings?
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