The Home Office’s efforts to secure backdoor access to Apple’s encrypted customer data for national security purposes has been blasted as “illogical” by a leading figure from the Internet Society.
Robin Wilton, senior director for internet trust at the non-profit organisation, told UKTN that he cannot see the logic behind the Home Office’s legal battle with Apple over its demands that the tech giant allow it – under exceptional circumstances – to view iCloud backup data secured by the company’s Advanced Data Protection system.
“How can you have a robust cybersecurity policy and a robust digital economy if you’ve taken steps that mean that backing up your device actually makes your data less secure?” said Wilton.
“I have a really hard time getting my head around whatever logic there might be here.”
The confrontation between Apple and the UK government department began in February following requests for access to the data from ministers.
This escalated to legal action taken by Apple which was further intensified last week when WhatsApp, the encrypted messaging platform owned by Meta, said it would be supporting Apple’s case by submitting evidence.
For Wilton, the Home Office’s encryption goals are both counter to its own ambition of improving security as well as economically harmful.
He took particular issue with a common argument presented by figures like the Home Office, that full encryption protects criminals from the law.
“That is true up to a point,” Wilson said. “But encryption also protects law abiding citizens. If the answer to the problem is to undermine encryption, then the corresponding risk is that you are putting the law abiding citizen in danger too.”
Wilton added: “If I can’t have a confidential conversation with my doctor, my bank manager or my family without being in the same room, then you can’t really have a digital society.”
Ethical and privacy arguments aside, the Internet Society senior director warned of the economic ramifications of undermining encrypted technology.
The most immediate economic effect would be to the individual company; as a firm is forced to admit they have given in to weakening encryption, it could face a serious customer backlash. As its users leave en masse, the company’s performance then drops massively.
Wilton noted that this could be manageable for certain companies, like Apple and Meta, but for smaller providers of encrypted services, such as Signal, it could ultimately kill the company.
“Those companies don’t have the same kind of economic safety net that a platform like WhatsApp does. If companies like that were known to have had to give in, first, it becomes very difficult to survive economically, second, the effect on that whole ecosystem becomes devastating.”
The post Home Office encryption fight is ‘illogical’ says Internet Society appeared first on UKTN.
