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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

#191

Post by justapassenger »

Wonder if this will help to kill a meme, about how much Apple cares about users and what great values they have, how they're going to stand for the user, fight with governments, etc.

While iPhone itself is pretty secure as a device phone (and Apple makes sure to remind you about that in each ad, public speaking, attacks on competitors, etc), as an ecosystem it's not secure. And it's like that on purpose - there's no good and easy option to backup your phone other than iCloud.

You have to be a tech person to know how to keep an iPhone secure. Average Joe buys iPhone and pays for iCloud. They Apple first $1k to get (on top of other things) a secure device, and then they Apple monthly fee to give Apple all their data and make insecure. Pretty genius business strategy.

Re: Apple dropped plan for encrypting backups after FBI complained

#192

Post by CiPHPerCoder »

_bxg1 wrote: post #189
CiPHPerCoder wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Please define your terms. Why do I have to use a phone in its place ? Apple products aren't a basic human necessity. I like to think I can just use a phone for the sake of wanting a phone, not to replace the void that not being an Apple consumer leaves in my soul, or something. What exactly do you mean by "basic aspects of modern life"? I have a desktop PC, a laptop, a work laptop, a LineageOS (Android-based) phone,…

I tried to get by with Lineage without gapps for a year and a half (if you don't forego gapps then there's no point from a privacy perspective). I couldn't get push notifications on Slack because they went through gapps. I couldn't use several online dating services because they were only on mobile, and their mobile apps broke without gapps. I couldn't check my bank account from my phone because I couldn't get a hold…

> We can talk all day about how we got to this status quo and what can or can't be done about it, but the reality is that if you want to live a real, modern, urban life in 2020, so many people and organizations just assume you to have a fully-functional smartphone that you will be actively hampered without one.

And for that, you can also get a stock Android phone like 80% of the world and still not be an Apple consumer. :)

Re: Apple dropped plan for encrypting backups after FBI complained

#193

Post by mindajar »

bronco21016 wrote: post #162

I believe this has been the case for sometime hasn’t it? I vaguely remember reporting indicating this was true during the San Bernardino case and that Apple handed over that backup. Either way I do remember reading the Apple law enforcement guidelines a year or two ago and this was the case. iCloud data is not secure from law enforcement. My project list has implementing a WiFi backup Windows/iTunes VM for this speci…

Device backups are handled by Finder in the post-iTunes world, at least on the Mac. I think iTunes is still a thing on Windows?

Re: Apple dropped plan for encrypting backups after FBI complained

#194

Post by clowd »

clarkmoody wrote: post #73

Beyond HN and tech circles, is there any detectable groundswell of demand for privacy? When you talk with friends & family about privacy, does anyone care? When average people care about privacy, the large players will respond. Until then, pressure from the state can be accommodated without irking customers, so Big Tech will play along.

Next time you encounter someone who claims they don't care about privacy, ask whether or not they close the bathroom door (or the stall in a public restroom) when they're taking a shit. And if they say yes, ask them why? What's going on in there isn't any big secret. It's not like they're in there plotting a terrorist attack. What are they hiding behind that door?

It turns out most people _do_ care about privacy. You just have to frame it in relatable terms.

I don't want anyone else watching me take a dump because that's private, and it's not any of their business. Likewise, I don't want other people knowing what articles I read on the internet, or what music I listen to, or reading the contents of my business plan, or scoping out my dick pics, or any of a thousand other things, because those things are also private and they aren't anyone else's business unless I choose to share them.

Restrooms have doors, and most people close them for privacy. Data has a privacy door, too, and it's called encryption.

Re: Apple dropped plan for encrypting backups after FBI complained

#195

Post by [deleted] »

djrogers wrote: post #139

Another case of a headline not being supported by the story: “ Reuters could not determine why exactly Apple dropped the plan. “Legal killed it, for reasons you can imagine,” another former Apple employee said he was told, without any specific mention of why the plan was dropped or if the FBI was a factor in the decision.” And further on: “ However, a former Apple employee said it was possible the encryption project…

[deleted]

Re: Apple dropped plan for encrypting backups after FBI complained

#196

Post by zaarn »

Ajedi32 wrote: post #186
somehnguy wrote: post #168

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, I always verify the hashes of updated binaries match what I compile myself in parallel. Also that takes too much time so I just never update anything and have a homebrew version of 'Damn Vulnerable Linux'. /s

Long-term, there may eventually come a solution to this problem in the form of [binary transparency]( https://wiki.mozilla.org/Security/Binary_Transparency ). However, we're obviously a long way away from that being the norm, and there's still the problem of supply-chain attacks on hardware to consider.

I doubt the hardware supply chain can ever be secured. Even if you were to open-source every single part of manufacturing, there is no reliable way to ensure that the chip you, as a customer, have obtained, hasn't been backdoored. You'd have to delid it and put it under an X-Ray if that even resolves the tiny featuresin modern CPUs.

Re: Apple dropped plan for encrypting backups after FBI complained

#197

Post by _bxg1 »

CiPHPerCoder wrote: post #192
_bxg1 wrote: post #189

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I tried to get by with Lineage without gapps for a year and a half (if you don't forego gapps then there's no point from a privacy perspective). I couldn't get push notifications on Slack because they went through gapps. I couldn't use several online dating services because they were only on mobile, and their mobile apps broke without gapps. I couldn't check my bank account from my phone because I couldn't get a hold…

> We can talk all day about how we got to this status quo and what can or can't be done about it, but the reality is that if you want to live a real, modern, urban life in 2020, so many people and organizations just assume you to have a fully-functional smartphone that you will be actively hampered without one. And for that, you can also get a stock Android phone like 80% of the world and still not be an Apple consum…

And be saddled with Google's services, which are 10x worse with regards to privacy than even this new revelation about Apple? I don't really understand your reasoning.

Re: Apple dropped plan for encrypting backups after FBI complained

#198

Post by bronco21016 »

mindajar wrote: post #193
bronco21016 wrote: post #162

I believe this has been the case for sometime hasn’t it? I vaguely remember reporting indicating this was true during the San Bernardino case and that Apple handed over that backup. Either way I do remember reading the Apple law enforcement guidelines a year or two ago and this was the case. iCloud data is not secure from law enforcement. My project list has implementing a WiFi backup Windows/iTunes VM for this speci…

Device backups are handled by Finder in the post-iTunes world, at least on the Mac. I think iTunes is still a thing on Windows?

Ah I see the distinction in a few articles now. Thanks!

Re: Apple dropped plan for encrypting backups after FBI complained

#199

Post by privateSFacct »

justapassenger wrote: post #191

Wonder if this will help to kill a meme, about how much Apple cares about users and what great values they have, how they're going to stand for the user, fight with governments, etc. While iPhone itself is pretty secure as a device phone (and Apple makes sure to remind you about that in each ad, public speaking, attacks on competitors, etc), as an ecosystem it's not secure. And it's like that on purpose - there's no…

Seriously - a big deal to me for sure.

Re: Apple dropped plan for encrypting backups after FBI complained

#200

Post by yjftsjthsd-h »

fsflover wrote: post #99
nexuist wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Headlines like this vindicate my decision to never purchase an Apple product. What else can you buy? Surely not Android...do you live without a smartphone (serious question, not judging)?

Waiting for Librem 5.

Or the pinephone, which isn't as nice but is 1. way cheaper, and 2. shipping already.
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