Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

U.K. orders Apple to let it spy on users’ encrypted accounts

washingtonpost.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

71–80 of 1001 posts

Re: U.K. orders Apple to let it spy on users’ encrypted accounts

#71

Post by reify »

I doubt very much if any terrorist, criminal or child abuser is going to use any google or apple cloud service to back up their files.

Anyone with a fundamental understanding of online privacy and security would encrypt any files prior to uploading them to the cloud rendering any back doors and access to those files useless and toothless.

I dont use any of these services. I have never understood the thinking around uploading your private life to some server in the cloud when they are more secure on an external hard drive at home.

Re: U.K. orders Apple to let it spy on users’ encrypted accounts

#72

Post by ben_w »

kazinator wrote: post #9
ggm wrote: post #5

Rather than break the security promises it made to its users everywhere, Apple is likely to stop offering encrypted storage in the U.K., the people said. Yet that concession would not fulfill the U.K. demand for backdoor access to the service in other countries, including the United States.

Jurisdiction, schmurisdiction. What's that, you know?

And that conversation will look something like this:

"If you want to sell phones in our country, you have to give us access to anyone we say is a criminal using your phones in any country".

"You are asking us to break the law in those other countries."

"Do you want to sell phones in our country, or not? We know you'll blink first."

(Will Apple blink? I don't know. But I am confident that the UK government is filled with people who assume they will).

Re: U.K. orders Apple to let it spy on users’ encrypted accounts

#73

Post by squeegee_scream »

reify wrote: post #71

I doubt very much if any terrorist, criminal or child abuser is going to use any google or apple cloud service to back up their files. Anyone with a fundamental understanding of online privacy and security would encrypt any files prior to uploading them to the cloud rendering any back doors and access to those files useless and toothless. I dont use any of these services. I have never understood the thinking around u…

I think you have a very high opinion of the millions of people around the globe, with varying levels of computer literacy, who are terrorists, criminals, and/or child abusers.

Re: U.K. orders Apple to let it spy on users’ encrypted accounts

#74

Post by ben_w »

hunglee2 wrote: post #2

US tech needs to obey the laws of the country in which it operates. I am sure the demands of UK government are more than reasonable - and, as it is a democracy - as full endorsement of the people / users

> I am sure the demands of UK government are more than reasonable - and, as it is a democracy - as full endorsement of the people / users

"Full endorsement" of the electorate isn't how representative democracy works. Given FPTP, the government got a huge majority of seats with 33.7% of the votes, but as there's not universal voting that's only 14% of the actual population, and even with those who did vote it's not clear how many people were voting "not the other lot".

Re: U.K. orders Apple to let it spy on users’ encrypted accounts

#75

Post by ben_w »

sigwinch28 wrote: post #16
hunglee2 wrote: post #2

US tech needs to obey the laws of the country in which it operates. I am sure the demands of UK government are more than reasonable - and, as it is a democracy - as full endorsement of the people / users

I’m from the U.K. and I consider the government’s actions around digital privacy to be somewhere between incompetent and malicious.

Indeed.

The Investigatory Powers Act 2016 was one of the big things (before Brexit) that made me realise the UK wasn't a suitable place to run a tech business.

It hasn't noticeably improved.

Re: U.K. orders Apple to let it spy on users’ encrypted accounts

#76

Post by voidUpdate »

reify wrote: post #71

I doubt very much if any terrorist, criminal or child abuser is going to use any google or apple cloud service to back up their files. Anyone with a fundamental understanding of online privacy and security would encrypt any files prior to uploading them to the cloud rendering any back doors and access to those files useless and toothless. I dont use any of these services. I have never understood the thinking around u…

Don't iPhone photos automatically sync to your iCloud?

Re: U.K. orders Apple to let it spy on users’ encrypted accounts

#77

Post by cpymchn »

What's new here?

As mentioned in the article, Salt Typhoon and the recency of this request by the UK. At this point they should know better.

My pet theory is anytime the US wants to do something illegal under US law, they simply ask the UK to do it and vice versa. That's why Salt Typhoon isn't and never will be a lesson learned.

Re: U.K. orders Apple to let it spy on users’ encrypted accounts

#79

Post by bilekas »

> requires that Apple creates a back door that allows UK security officials unencumbered access to encrypted user data worldwide

How could this even be enforced if Apple pulls out cloud services of the UK ?

It's such a ridiculous request, the British Intelligence agencies must be bored coming up with new ways to make Apple look good.

Re: U.K. orders Apple to let it spy on users’ encrypted accounts

#80

Post by kotaKat »

reify wrote: post #71

I doubt very much if any terrorist, criminal or child abuser is going to use any google or apple cloud service to back up their files. Anyone with a fundamental understanding of online privacy and security would encrypt any files prior to uploading them to the cloud rendering any back doors and access to those files useless and toothless. I dont use any of these services. I have never understood the thinking around u…

> I doubt very much if any terrorist, criminal or child abuser is going to use any google or apple cloud service to back up their files.

Meanwhile, the amount of local news arrests for people getting busted for uploading CSAM to online platforms like Google and Apple is exponentially increasing.

The average "criminal" is an idiot.

Post reply on HN