Reports from US officials today suggest that the Home Office has agreed to drop its controversial Technical Capability Notice to Apple. The order, which was issued earlier this year, required Apple to breach encryption and grant the UK government access to UK users’ private data. Tulsi Gabbard, the US Director of National Intelligence, told the Financial Times the UK had “agreed to drop” its demand.
Interim Director of privacy and civil liberties campaign group Big Brother Watch, Rebecca Vincent, said:
“Tulsi Gabbard’s statement 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.
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.”