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Apple dropped plan for encrypting backups after FBI complained

reuters.com

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Re: Apple dropped plan for encrypting backups after FBI complained

#11

Post by shadowgovt »

minikites wrote: post #4

Some companies are better than others but there's absolutely no reason to believe any one of them would ever be on "your side" for any reason. You can vote for who makes decisions in government, but you can't vote for who makes decisions in companies.

And at the end of the day, these tools are powerful and it's unclear that it's in the best interests of humanity at large to make it easy for every individual to cipher their data in a way that no other human can ever access. Apple (and their peers in the big-cloud-data-storage world) may not even be in the wrong for not willing to hand the same tool to the just and the unjust for cheaper than those individuals rolling their own.

Re: Apple dropped plan for encrypting backups after FBI complained

#12

Post by thrwaway69 »

panarky wrote: post #5
minikites wrote: post #4

Some companies are better than others but there's absolutely no reason to believe any one of them would ever be on "your side" for any reason. You can vote for who makes decisions in government, but you can't vote for who makes decisions in companies.

You vote every time you decide to buy or not to buy.

That's not always a democratic vote when there is a market monopoly, lockins and external pressure to use products from certain companies.

Re: Apple dropped plan for encrypting backups after FBI complained

#14

Post by celeritascelery »

inetknght wrote: post #9
panarky wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You vote every time you decide to buy or not to buy.

That's not how that works at all. You can buy something you need because you need it and that's not at all a vote saying you like the management of how it was produced.

It’s a vote whether you claim it is or not. If you need something but don’t want to support the company, buy it from someone else. And if you can’t find a company that you want to support, then you’ll see it’s just like real politics. You don’t get to only vote for the parts of a candidate you like, you vote for the whole package.

Re: Apple dropped plan for encrypting backups after FBI complained

#15

Post by judge2020 »

exegete wrote: post #3
hannibalhorn wrote: post #2

The iCloud security overview [1] says iCloud backups are encrypted "in transit" and "on server", but indeed doesn't say much about the encryption keys. There is "end-to-end encryption" on just a few items (iCloud keychain, WiFi passwords, etc.) 1. https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202303

Apple has a key for iCloud backups. [1] 1. https://fixitalready.eff.org/apple

That's generally what "on the server" means, it's only encrypted so their storage provider (shown to be GCP https://www.theverge.com/2018/2/26/17053496/apple-google-clo... ) can't see their user data.

Re: Apple dropped plan for encrypting backups after FBI complained

#16

Post by coldtea »

panarky wrote: post #5
minikites wrote: post #4

Some companies are better than others but there's absolutely no reason to believe any one of them would ever be on "your side" for any reason. You can vote for who makes decisions in government, but you can't vote for who makes decisions in companies.

You vote every time you decide to buy or not to buy.

You vote wholesale (on all aspects of a product) and not just on those you like or don't like, so the point is moot.

Plus, to vote "away" from a company/product, other products should exist that are better, and not just in this single aspect (encryption of backups), but in other aspects that count for your usage.

Re: Apple dropped plan for encrypting backups after FBI complained

#17

Post by WilTimSon »

Reminds me of WhatsApp claiming it had encryption everywhere and then this [0] dropped. Except, in this case, I'm actually surprised. Didn't Apple publicly claim that it wouldn't bow down to any demands from the agencies?

[0]: https://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/3061660/whatsapp-i...

Re: Apple dropped plan for encrypting backups after FBI complained

#19

Post by thrwaway69 »

shadowgovt wrote: post #11
minikites wrote: post #4

Some companies are better than others but there's absolutely no reason to believe any one of them would ever be on "your side" for any reason. You can vote for who makes decisions in government, but you can't vote for who makes decisions in companies.

And at the end of the day, these tools are powerful and it's unclear that it's in the best interests of humanity at large to make it easy for every individual to cipher their data in a way that no other human can ever access. Apple (and their peers in the big-cloud-data-storage world) may not even be in the wrong for not willing to hand the same tool to the just and the unjust for cheaper than those individuals rolli…

> it's unclear that it's in the best interests of humanity at large to make it easy for every individual to cipher their data in a way that no other human can ever access

Unclear on what exactly?

How much damage is done through encryption alone?

Re: Apple dropped plan for encrypting backups after FBI complained

#20

Post by panarky »

inetknght wrote: post #9
panarky wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You vote every time you decide to buy or not to buy.

That's not how that works at all. You can buy something you need because you need it and that's not at all a vote saying you like the management of how it was produced.

If you "need" an iPhone more than you "need" a competitor with end-to-end encrypted backups, then you've voted for Apple.
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