Apple, who positions himself as a great defender of confidentiality, gives way to the protection of privacy in the United Kingdom. Put under pressure by the British authorities, if the American press is to be believed, the apple brand has made the decision to withdraw its advanced encryption function for British users.
“Apple can no longer offer advanced data protection (ADP) to the United Kingdom to new users and current British users will possibly deactivate this safety feature”explains Julien Trosdorf, Apple spokesperson, in a statement to The Verge. “We are deeply disappointed that the protections provided by the ADP are not available for our customers in the United Kingdom, given the continuous increase in data violations and other customer life threats”.
Apple always refuses to create a stolen door
This decision remains a way for the American giant not to contradict his promise. Indeed, the deactivation of advanced data protection avoids creating a stolen door, or a means of accessing data. The Cupertino firm has always refused to do so and wishes to recall it in a press release: “As we have already said many times, we have never set up a ‘stolen door’ or ‘main key’ for none of our products or services and we will never do it”. Some may remember the episode of the iPhone of San Bernardino, for which Apple had already refused to create a stolen door to help the FBI.
Available as an option since 2022, advanced data protection for iCloud data complements the already available security measures. It uses end -to -end encryption for additional data categories, including device backups, messages of messages, iCloud Drive, notes, photos, reminders, Safari bookmarks, Siri shortcuts, dictaphone and plans data. With this feature, only approved devices can decipher protected data, guaranteeing the security of information even in the event of data violation in the cloud. Even Apple cannot access the user’s information, recalls the firm on its site.
British users who have never activated this additional protection will no longer be able to do so. For the others, they will have a delay to deactivate it.
The risk of creating a precedent
As it stands, Apple seems to opt for the least bad solutions to the supposed demands of the British government. The Californian giant’s decision still sends a disturbing message, leaving hope for other governments to make Apple yield and slow down advances in terms of encryption. Tim Cook’s firm could nevertheless find its salvation in the United States, which did not see a good eye the request of the United Kingdom.
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