The UK government still doesn’t understand encryption

Apple has quite rightly renewed its court battle against the UK government’s foolish attempt to insert backdoors into data encryption. 

It is appropriate to challenge the UK government again, because a backdoor built for one country will not stay safely inside that country.

Beyond privacy

To some extent this is an argument over privacy, but it goes so much further than that. In an age in which AI is already being successfully used to identify software vulnerabilities, any state-mandated backdoor will be found and used by nation-state adjacent hackers, leaving UK residents far less secure than before.

It is to the government’s shame that it seems to be in denial of this. If it prevails, it will not only make UK citizens less saf; it will also create backdoors that can be abused everywhere.

Apple filed its complaint with the top secret Investigatory Powers Tribunal (IPT) last month after the Home Office issued a new request requiring the company to create a “back door” to encrypted iCloud data used by UK customers.

The decisions impact us all, so we don’t know about them

That demand followed the UK withdrawal of a similar attempt in the face of stout resistance from US politicians. The UK has now made demands that apply only against UK users, theoretically to help investigation of serious crimes – though in the UK the definition of serious seems a little too flexible. Privacy International and Liberty are also challenging this.

What makes the whole thing even more ironic and ridiculous is that the case – which concerns privacy and security of the entire UK population – is to be held in a secret court, and that the British people will not be told much, if anything, about the outcome, which feels a lot more like protecting dystopia than guarding freedom.

Speaking to Mobile Europe, a spokesperson said:  “We are happy to learn that Apple is once again challenging the UK’s regime of secret orders. 

“While we don’t know the substance of Apple’s claim, if it relates to the previously reported orders aimed at undermining the security of Apple’s iCloud storage, then Apple’s claim, alongside ours and Liberty’s, is crucially important to preserving all of our privacy and security.”

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