The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBIfor its acronym in English) is “deeply concerned” about the upcoming updates of safety that the American company will apply Apple to your products.
We are “deeply concerned about the threat posed by end-to-end encryption and exclusive user access,” the agency told the Washington Post.
The FBI issued the warning after the tech company announced its plans to strengthen its encryption from end to end on their devices, what they understand will interfere with tracking criminals and terrorists.
Apple has signaled several “enhanced security features” coming in the coming months, including new protections for files stored in the cloud.
“This hampers our ability to protect the American people from criminal acts ranging from cyberattacks and violence against children to drug trafficking, organized crime and terrorism,” an unnamed spokesperson said. FBI in a statement Wednesday. “In this age of cybersecurity and demands for ‘safety of design’, the FBI and law enforcement partners need ‘lawful access by design,’” he added.
It’s not the first time US authorities and their allies have called for open access to all the tech company’s devices, in the case of the FBI, the agency points out aftermath of a 2015 terrorist attack in San Bernardino, California. after which officers were unable to hack into the shooter’s Apple phone. Despite efforts to force the company to help with access, it turned into a legal battle centered around “encryption.”
Between 2015 and 2016, Apple received at least 11 separate court orders to assist police in accessing various devices believed to be involved in criminal acts, but refused all of them. Finally, a New York court concluded that the company could not be forced to unlock its phones under the All Writs Act of 1789, the same law that the FBI repeatedly mentioned in previous cases.
Similarly, the UK, Australia and the US Department of Justice have done something similar with other companies, in 2019 the three countries sent an open letter to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg in which they argued that “companies should not deliberately design their systems to prevent any form of access to content.”
Officials at the time indicated that “encryption” could interfere with investigations into “the most serious crimes,” requiring the ability to decrypt any device at any time.
The improvements of Apple
in 2023 Apple will feature an update to its iOS operating system, which will extend end-to-end encryption in iCloud Drive, which means that in some cases Apple You will not be able to offer a copy of the content stored there.
The company announced three new security features, including enhanced protection that allows the user to choose whether or not to make a copy of encryption keys.
Despite the strong protection of Apple on the privacy of its users, with options such as local content encryption and App Tracking Transparency (ATT), the technology did not have fully encrypted cloud files.
With the new update, Apple will protect other services like iCloud Drive, Photos, Notes and Reminders with optional data encryption.
