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

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We knew something like this was coming based on the existing law. This story appears to focus on a recent government order.

This is a Washington Post exclusive. So, I’m watching to see if this is confirmed by other news outlets.

Security officials in the United Kingdom have demanded that Apple create a back door allowing them to retrieve all the content any Apple user worldwide has uploaded to the cloud, people familiar with the matter told The Washington Post.

The British government’s undisclosed order, issued last month, requires blanket capability to view fully encrypted material, not merely assistance in cracking a specific account,

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The UK government is ordering Apple to do this worldwide. Seems unlikely Apple would comply unless they face pressure from other governments.

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while the story may or may not be true, it’s typical WaPo garbage; unnamed and anonymous sources

and then there’s this gem of a comment from yet another demented government dingbat…

“Sen. Ron Wyden (Oregon), a Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said it was important for the United States to dissuade Britain: “Trump and American tech companies letting foreign governments secretly spy on Americans would be unconscionable and an unmitigated disaster for Americans’ privacy and our national security.””

…pot calls kettle black

more to the point …

“Law enforcement authorities around the world have complained about increased use of encryption …”

really? maybe local and state LE are unable to break reasonably strong encryption, but no one has been able to convince me that the intel community can’t

i’ve spoken with some tech geeks and a former u.s. gov employee who had a crypto clearance and their answers range from ‘we can’t be sure’ to “encryption is useless”, the latter a direct quote from the ex-gov dude and that was ~25 years ago

that encryption is not as full-proof as it says on the tin is also confirmed by statements made by Bill Binney (former NSA), Ed Snowden “it buys you time” and John McAfee, who stated…

“if you think you have any privacy whatsoever with an encrypted system whether it’s an email system like protonmail or an encrypted messaging system like signal you have no f’ing privacy”
[…]
“encryption is a worthless piece of shit old technology that is being marketed as a safe system”

Teachable Moment: John McAfee’s Gmail Rant - by Gabriel

on the rest of this WaPo “news” piece…

“The U.K. and FBI in particular have said that encryption lets terrorists and child abusers hide more easily.”

interesting choice of a word; “abusers” rather than traffickers, of which elements in the u.s. government are major players, a fact which, once again, has made the news rounds with the missing 300,000+ children that crossed our non-existent southern border, many of which who were not accompanied by parents, drugged, and handed off to “guardians” (anyone who would take them), some of which are known criminals

sex trafficking, child trafficking and slavery are at epidemic proportions and multi-billion dollar industries (plural) have been built up around this

“Tech companies have pushed back, stressing a right to privacy in personal communication …”

try selling that to anyone with an internet connection and a modicum of curiosity

the rest i didn’t waste my time reading