Apple he explained which will collect services, including FaceTime and iMessageUK if plans to change surveillance laws that would require tech companies to make significant security and privacy changes are implemented.
The British government is planning an updateInvestigative Powers Act (IPA), which came into force in 2016. This law allows the UK Home Office to force tech companies to turn off security features like end-to-end encryption without informing the public. The IPA also allows for the keeping of records of internet browsing and allows bulk collection of personal data in the UK. Due to the secrecy of these requests, little is known about how many were issued and fulfilled.
Currently, this process requires independent verification through an audit, and technology companies can appeal before having to comply. With the proposed IPA update, disabling security features would be possible immediately without notifying the public.
The UK Government has launched an eight-week consultation process on proposed changes to the IPA, open to professional bodies, stakeholders, academics and the general public. Apple submitted a nine-page document in which condemns many of the proposed changes.
The company opposes the requirement to notify the Home Office of any changes to product security features before they are made public, the requirement for non-UK based companies to comply with changes that would affect their product globally, and the requirement to act immediately upon receiving a request from the Home Office to disable or block a feature without review or appeal.
Apple also emphasized that some requested feature changes would require a software update and therefore could not be implemented without public knowledge. The suggestions”pose a serious and direct threat to data security and privacy‘ which would affect people outside the UK, argues Apple. If the changes are ratified, the company will not make any changes to security features, only removing services like “FaceTime” and iMessage in the UK.
Apple, WhatsApp and Signal They also oppose a proposed clause in the UK’s Online Safety Act that would allow the communications regulator to require companies to install technology to scan child sexual abuse images (CSAM extension) in encrypted messaging apps and other services. Signal has threatened to leave the UK over the matter.
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