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A Message to Our Customers(apple.com)

almost 8 years ago from Jérémy Barbet, Front-end developer @ Ueno.

  • Marc EdwardsMarc Edwards, almost 8 years ago

    This isn’t really an encryption debate though. It’s a debate about non-government entities being forced to undermine the protections they’ve created for their customers. The encryption portion of the discussion is a side show.

    5 points
    • Catalin CimpanuCatalin Cimpanu, almost 8 years ago

      Yeah, I know Marc. It's just that I write security news for a living. This got boring last December.

      I honestly thought that the whole encryption debate was a sideshow so the intelligence agencies and defense lobby groups could push CISA past the Senate last year.

      This whole Apple encryption debate is just silly to me, since Apple collaborated with the US agencies in the past to unlock many devices. I smell some "We luv 'Mericah!" PR (and hypocrisy) from Apple's part TBH.

      There many articles citing low-level government sources that say that encryption backdoors are the stupidest idea ever. The only ones pushing for this are FBI/NSA/etc. bosses, in an obvious power move. I actually don't believe they plan to do so.

      The other country where there's a hard government push for encryption backdoors is the UK, who took a page out of the US book. They are using the encryption backdoor push to keep pushing an invasive version of their Investigatory Powers Bill. For now, it's not really working.

      So yeah, the whole encryption debate is just stupid for me, and only a PR shill from Apple polluting my RSS feeds. They should just unlock that damn phone like they did so many times before and stop waving the 'Mericah flag like this is something new for them.

      http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/02/17/apple-unlocked-iphones-for-the-feds-70-times-before.html

      0 points
      • Marc EdwardsMarc Edwards, almost 8 years ago (edited almost 8 years ago )

        Yeah, I know Marc. It's just that I write security news for a living. This got boring last December.

        Oh, right. You definitely know what’s at stake then. Surely the future of privacy of the entire planet isn’t that boring?

        This whole Apple encryption debate is just silly to me, since Apple collaborated with the US agencies in the past to unlock many devices.

        Maybe they have spotted a trend, and maybe that trend triggered them to develop Touch ID/Secure Enclave. Maybe they’ve had enough? If nothing else, at some point it’s going to be very bad PR for Apple if they don’t do what they can to ensure their encryption isn’t defeatable?

        A similar battle is playing out in Australia as well. We have some draconian metadata storage laws that have passed and been implemented, and now every single government agency and organisation is trying to get access, including local councils. The only way these laws and abilities are going to be reigned in is if there’s constant debate and citizen outrage, don’t you think?

        With that in mind, I’m happy talking about it every single day until it is resolved.

        0 points