This is some really embarrassing timing on the Home Office’s (HO’s) part: a few weeks ago when news first broke of the HO’s demand for a backdoor in Apple ADP, I pointed out to MP David Davis that the HO actually extolled use of ADP by at-risk groups:
That screenshot was current to that day. What I did not expect was that in the interim between then and the new revelation that Apple are taking the matter to (again, secret) court, the people at NCSC would apparently rewrite the whole document, rename it, broaden the audience, and water it down by eliding the advice to enable and use ADP, as discovered by Pat Walshe… or at least that’s what happened on the face of it:
Instead they now call for use of Apple’s “Lockdown Mode”, and I checked with noted Lockdown Mode advocate Runa Sandv
12 Comments
martinsnow
Did the site get hugged to death?
sarcasticfish
Could someone that understands more than a third of what was written explain what's going on?
ohgr
Wankers! Sorry that's not constructive. But that's what they are.
Especially when government ministers regularly accidentally delete everything and get away with it…
bigyabai
Fights like this only legitimize the EU's DSA to me. UK users would not be beholden to Apple for E2EE if their clients had legitimate alternatives to the first-party iCloud service. There would be no world where Apple could even threaten to disable it.
Break the walled garden down, and all of the sudden it doesn't matter what Apple's stance on E2EE is. But Apple wouldn't want that, since then you might realize they aren't the sole arbiters of online privacy.
mig39
Man, you know you're the baddies when you have to have "secret courts."
ChrisArchitect
Related:
Apple takes UK to court over 'backdoor' order
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43270079
rvz
Why would you want to live in the UK, especially under this government?
Unless you want to enjoy a full surveillance state close to China?
Even if you are running away from the US, you should just ignore the UK as a destination at this point.
bigfatkitten
https://archive.is/YZF6r
cs02rm0
So the question in my mind is: is the UK Government attempting to cover-up its previous advocacy of ADP, by censoring this old document?
In a word, yes.
I'd be fascinated to know who in the hive mind decided to do it though; I can't see someone too senior coming up with an http redirect as the answer. I guess the scrub order came down the chain and an automaton jumped into action.
st3fan
Lock Down Mode is for when you think your phone is compromised. Not for enhanced encryption or even day to day use.
Aloisius
Simply turning off ADP for UK users seems like it wouldn't satisfy the UK who likely wants the keys to people's data who live outside the UK as well.
So Apple either has to fight this in court, compromise security worldwide, disable iCloud worldwide or exit the UK market.
The same law can arguably be used to compel Apple to backdoor phones and devices themselves as well.
vfclists
There is too much deflection from the true purpose for these regulations.
The main thing here is that if a Govt approaches a party to gain access to their encrypted data the party can stall them, destroy the data, claim amnesia or point the Govt in the direction of their lawyers. If the Govt approaches Apple or some other company, the companies don't have to inform the targets and can probably compel the companies not to inform the targets.
With encryption there is even no hard evidence that the data sought exists.
This is the main reason for the laws. Their purpose is to gain access to encrypted information without their target's knowledge.