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

Apple pulls data protection tool after UK government security row

bbc.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

481–490 of 1001 posts

Re: Apple pulls data protection tool after UK government security row

#481

Post by yubblegum »

ljm wrote: post #358

Fundamentally, I think the issue is more about technical literacy amongst the political establishment who consistently rely on the fallacy that having nothing to hide means you have nothing to fear. Especially in the UK which operates as a paternalistic state and enjoys authoritarian support across all parties. On the authoritarianism: these laws are always worded in such a way that they can be applied or targeted va…

> technical literacy amongst the political establishment who consistently rely on the fallacy that having nothing to hide means you have nothing to fear.

That's an awfully generous assessment on your part. Kindly explain just what "technical literacy" has to do with the formulation you note. From here it reads like you are misdirecting and clouding the -intent- by the powerful here.

Also does ERIC SCHMIDT an accomplished geek (who is an official member of MIC since (during?) his departure from Sun Microsystems) suffers from "technical literacy" issues:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=983717

Thank you in advance for clarifying your thought process here. Tech illiteracy -> what you got to hide there buddy?

Re: Apple pulls data protection tool after UK government security row

#482

Post by deelowe »

IceHegel wrote: post #430

I'm sympathetic to the J.D. Vance angle, which is that European governments are increasingly scared of their own people. This is not doing a lot to change my mind.

Then Vance should do something about the 5 eyes which is likely the source of this sort of thing.

Re: Apple pulls data protection tool after UK government security row

#483

Post by nickslaughter02 »

cynicalsecurity wrote: post #409

Could this have been a reason UK pushed to separation from the EU? EU is all for privacy while UK is slowly drifting towards becoming a Stasi state.

No, EU is NOT "all for privacy". I don't know where this myth comes from but I see it repeated here often.

1. EU is pushing for mandatory on-device scanning of all your messages (chat control). The current proposal includes scanning of all videos and images all the time for all citizens. The proposal started with analyzing all text too. The discussions are happening behind close doors. EU Ombudsman has accused EU commission of "maladministration", no response.

2. EU is allowing US companies to scan your emails and messages (ePrivacy Derogation). Extended for 2025.

3. EU is pushing for expansion of data retention and to undermine encryption security (EU GoingDark).

"The plan includes the reintroduction and expansion of the retention of citizens’ communications data as well as specific proposals to undermine the secure encryption of data on all connected devices, ranging from cars to smartphones, as well as data processed by service providers and data in transit." https://www.patrick-breyer.de/en/eugoingdark-surveillance-pl...

4. EU is pushing for mandatory age verification to use email, messengers and web applications. Citizens will be required to use EU approved verification providers. All accounts will be linked back to your real identity.

5. "Anonymity is not a fundamental right": experts disagree with Europol chief's request for encryption back door (January 22, 2025)

https://www.techradar.com/computing/cyber-security/anonymity...

-----

Do you still believe EU is all for privacy? EU's privacy is deteriorating faster than in any other developed country / bloc. Some of these proposals have been blocked by Germany for now but that is expected to change after the upcoming elections.

Re: Apple pulls data protection tool after UK government security row

#484

Post by AlanYx »

sva_ wrote: post #475
AlanYx wrote: post #450

Many people might not be aware of it, but Apple publishes a breakdown of the number of government requests for data that it receives, broken down by country. The number of UK requests has ballooned in recent years: https://www.apple.com/legal/transparency/gb.html#:~:text=77%... Much of this is likely related to the implementation and automation of the US-UK data access agreement pursuant to the CLOUD Act, which has s…

Looking at the ones for Germany, those seem like rookie numbers https://www.apple.com/legal/transparency/de.html#:~:text=77%...

It's also comparatively worse than the raw numbers suggest because the customer base of Apple phones in Germany is much smaller than in the UK.

Re: Apple pulls data protection tool after UK government security row

#485

Post by jiveturkey »

watusername wrote: post #446
drexlspivey wrote: post #318

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Presumably these keys live in a hardware security module on your phone called “secure enclave” and cannot be extracted

From the Advanced Data Protection whitepaper [0], it appears the keys are stored in the iCloud Keychain domain, so not the Secure Enclave: > Conceptually, Advanced Data Protection is simple: All CloudKit Service keys that were generated on device and later uploaded to the available-after-authentication iCloud Hardware Security Modules (HSMs) in Apple data centers are deleted from those HSMs and instead kept entirely…

wrapped by a key hierarchy ultimately rooted by a key stored in the secure enclave.

Re: Apple pulls data protection tool after UK government security row

#486

Post by deelowe »

tene80i wrote: post #239

I have a naive question, and it's genuine curiosity, not a defence of what's happening here. This ADP feature has only existed for a couple of years, right? I understand people are mad that it's now gone, but why weren't people mad _before_ it existed? For like, a decade? Why do people treat iCloud as immediately dangerous now, if they didn't before? Did they think it was fully encrypted when it wasn't? Did people no…

Apple has been advertising security and privacy as a top feature for years now. It would make sense for people to get upset if those features were removed.

Re: Apple pulls data protection tool after UK government security row

#487

Post by -__---____-ZXyw »

Workers in tech jobs over the past few decades are the ones who are primarily to blame for the total degradation of the very notion of privacy, and our societies are, I think, reaping the consequences of this now in many ways.

This story didn't spring up out of nowhere, like a monster from under the bed. It's been a gradual decline since, let's say, the 90s or so.

I don't want to be vulgar, but the people who understood the best what was happening were mostly too busy taking large paychecks to get too upset about the whole thing. It got explained away, rationalised, joked about, and here we are.

Re: Apple pulls data protection tool after UK government security row

#488

Post by onei »

scott_w wrote: post #456
miohtama wrote: post #425

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Furthermore, one UK head of state call everyone supporting encryption pedophiles https://x.com/BenWallace70/status/1892972120818299199

Just to be clear: Wallace is not a head of state, or even an MP any more. At one point, he was Secretary of State for Defence, a Cabinet position, however he resigned this in 2023. This doesn’t justify his position (it’s stupid) but he doesn’t speak for the current government.

To clarify a bit further, the UK head of state is King Charles III, as he is for a bunch of other countries in the Commonwealth.

Head of state in the UK is a bit weird compared to countries that abolished or never had a monarchy.

Re: Apple pulls data protection tool after UK government security row

#490

Post by munksbeer »

fdb345 wrote: post #436
munksbeer wrote: post #179

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm an immigrant to the UK. I have lived here permanently for 21 successive years, though I was actually in and out of the UK for years before that. My current anecdotal feeling about the UK is at a pretty low point. If it was an option, I would seriously look to emigrate again, but I honestly don't know where. The most appealing option for me is Australia, but my age works against me. I know everywhere has its issue…

Like most immigrants you were sold a lie. Enjoy.

Sorry? The UK has been an amazing place for me. It still is, when I focus locally, instead of being swept up by everything else.

Are you also an immigrant to the UK? I suggest you embrace it.

Post reply on HN