2y ago

Apple says it would remove iMessage and FaceTime in the UK rather than break end-to-end encryption

9to5mac.com Apple says it would remove iMessage and FaceTime in the UK rather than break end-to-end encryption

Facing possible legislation that would require messaging services to offer backdoors in end-to-end encryption, Apple is saying it would rather...

Privacy @lemmy.world

octalfudge @lemmy.world

2y ago

Apple says it would remove iMessage and FaceTime in the UK rather than break end-to-end encryption

9to5mac.com /2023/07/20/apple-imessage-facetime-remove-security-law/

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70 comments

Respect
- Yep. They really doubled down on privacy/security and it’s pretty admirable. The President doesn’t use an android or a blackberry for a reason. (Well, two in the case of blackberry. Security and existing). If only there were no other problematic areas of Apple’s business (manufacturing, wages, environmental impact).
  
  Can't wait for them to put their money where their mouth is and do the same in China and other large population countries that demand the same thing 😂
  
  They're hypocrites though. Branding themselves as privacy focused and in some cases actually being that too but at the same time also scanning your photos and messages and reporting to authorities/parents if there something inappropriate.
  Inb4 no need to worry if you have nothing to hide -argument
  
  Well that and the fact that he's 900 years old and probably thinks all phones are iPhones.

This is one thing Apple has been pretty firm on. You can’t have a secure product and have backdoors. You can try to hide them all you want, but a backdoor will always be a massive security vulnerability.
- They moved the storage of encryption keys for Chinese users to servers in China instead of shutting down iMessage and Facetime. Quite the different response compared to here.
  I was assuming Apple was posturing until they'd actually have to do something.
  They could well have postured in China as well, before backtracking. I have no Idea if that happened, but it seems reasonable from a PR vs Legal vs business development standpoint.
  
  They moved the storage of encryption keys for Chinese users to servers in China instead of shutting down iMessage and Facetime.
  These are totally separate things. Apple users in China can still use iMessage and FaceTime and those are still end-to-end encrypted. If you choose to store your iMessages in iCloud, those can be accessed by the government, but that's the same as they can in every other country. The UK's proposal is to directly break the security of iMessage itself, something worse than what China has done.
  
  They moved the storage of encryption keys for Chinese users to servers in China
  No they didn't. iMessage can only be decrypted by keys stored in the secure enclave on your device.
  There are some things that the Chinese government can access. The contents of messages isn't one of them.
  And as for Facetime... those calls aren't recorded at all. Not sure how a legal order is supposed to allow access to data that doesn't even exist.
- Will, except in China. They opened the backdoor nice and wide for Winnie the Pooh so he could gobble up all the Chinese iCloud data

Good on them for standing up for what's right on this.
- rare Apple W
  
  Not really. Apple's track record for this kind of thing is pretty great. See also, the San Bernardino case.
- Apple doesn't like be told what to do.
  If privacy is in the way of their desires then Apple will invade their user's privacy. They don't stand for privacy.
  
  Seems like you're spewing FUD to me, mostly. I agree Apple is far from perfect, but they literally introduced an e2e methodology for much of iCloud data recently.
  Besides, even if they are only doing this out of selfish desire, it's still a good thing for the consumers in this case.
  
  Only apple is allowed to spy on it's users

Good, why should they comprise security. It makes it easier for everyone to hack, not just the government
- It could already be completely hackable and no one would know because the security in this case is solely based on apples word with zero auditing. If there were a true financial incentive there is no doubt they would compromise "security".

21st century govenrments: Hey guys, why don't we ban math?
Yeah good luck with that. Gotta give it to Apple on this one, though I'm not a huge fan of their business practices otherwise.

Can we get iMessage on Android in the States tho?
- We have iMessage at home (it's Signal and nobody else uses it)
  
  they removed the ability to send sms in the app. so I, like many others, moved on to other apps that could handle such a task.
  signal isn't capable of anything other than talking to other signal users. so it's a dead app.

I don’t doubt it. Apple would probably just ship a new app called “Texts” or something that only does traditional cell carrier text messages, and then refer customers to third party solutions for video conferencing. A nice explanatory web page on Apple’s website to point customers in the region towards would be the cherry on top.
- No need for a new app. The app is already called „messages“. Just remove iMessage support and it works „fine“

Hope this comes to fruition. Maybe it would help people realize how dumb it is to be locked into these services in the first place.

Good
- We will have to wait and see what if they actually follow through.
  They are big ones for making grand statements and then quietly backtracking later on once all the press isn't paying attention anymore.

I'd say good on Apple protecting their users but knowing Apple it's more like they don't want to be told what to do.

Mine is mainly a YouTube and Books machine. During the NFL season I’ll use it to keep tabs on games that my team isn’t in, or pull up NFL Redzone as a PiP kind of setup from the couch.
Sometimes I use it for recipes too

- UK isn’t in the EU.
  
  Oh no! What happened?! (/s)
- The UK government and the EU are different (and have different regulations) though.

70 comments