The Home Office has agreed to drop its demand that tech giant Apple provides a government back door to encrypted messages according to top US officials.
In response to this positive development, interim director of civil liberties organisation Big Brother Watch, Rebecca Vincent, said:
“That the UK has agreed to drop its order to Apple to provide an encryption backdoor is a welcome step towards protecting the privacy of millions of Apple users in the UK. We repeat our call on the Home Office to drop its use of Technical Capability Notices (TCNs) seeking to break encryption, which represents a serious threat to our ability to communicate privately.”
But she warns that the fight for privacy is far from over:
“Regardless, addressing only this order is alleviating a symptom rather than the wider problem. It does not guarantee that other TCNs will not be issued in the future, nor do we have any way of knowing whether similar orders may already have been issued to other technology companies. The mass surveillance powers created through the Investigatory Powers Act remain a significant threat to privacy rights in the UK. This draconian law is unfit for purpose and should be amended to protect privacy rights without delay.”
Al Jazeera – UK agrees to drop mandate for Apple ‘back door’, US spy chief says