Apple and the United Kingdom are faced by the encryption of digital content. It is not an isolated conflict, but is part of a broader war that is reproduced in recent years in Europe. Several governments throughout the continent, both nationally and within the EU, are maneuvering to cut or leave open doors in the encryption, the communications privacy system and the most effective archives that exist in the digital environment . A large -scale war in which the battle between London and the multinational could sit precedent.
Digital encryption is a way to protect information making it a code that only authorized users can decipher. Leaving a “backdoor” (rear door) for security forces implies that there is a secret way of accessing encrypted messages, which can help in criminal investigations, but also weakens general security, since cybercriminals, foreign intelligence services or authoritarian governments could exploit that same door to spy on any user.
As in the case that now affects Apple, these offensives against encryption occur in laws to increase the capacity of security services to access citizens’ data. The United Kingdom wants the multinational to leave a rear door for its police and intelligence services to unlock the copies of ICLOUD, its cloud storage service. The multinational has refused and after a turbulent week, has chosen to deactivate the possibility of encrypting Icloud copies in the country. He will not break his encryption, but will prevent the British from encrypting.
It is a small victory for London, since now your security forces can access those files without the obstacles of the encrypted. However, the conflict is unlikely to end there. The British intention is to chase its objectives beyond its borders, according to a secret order brought to light by The Washinton Post. This “demands the general ability to see completely encrypted material” of Apple users of any country and would affect all kinds of information, such as messages, photographs, files and contact lists.
If the United Kingdom Government is allowed to leave with it in this absurd case, then they will advance towards a total implementation “of encryption undercut policy
PRIVACY INTERNATIONAL
Revelation has made alarms jump in human rights defense organizations worldwide. “It is an alarming overrequalization by the British authorities, who intend to access private data not only of the citizens of the United Kingdom, but any person in the world who holds an Apple account,” they have denounced in a joint statement in a joint statement Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.
“The British government cannot legally prevent people from using encryption, but they want to make it really very difficult,” they say from Privacy International, an NGO based in London. “This is just the first step of governments. If the United Kingdom Government is allowed to leave with it in this absurd case, then they will advance towards a total policy implementation of undermining the encryption, “they warn:” No government should have the authority to suspend security or stop innovation in innovation in Security for users, either in their own country or worldwide. ”
Improving cloud storage safety with end -to -end encryption is more urgent than ever
Apple
The British government has not yet manifested about Apple’s movement. The company, meanwhile, has lamented what happened. “We are deeply disappointed that the protections offered by ADP [el sistema que ha retirado] They are not available for our clients in the United Kingdom, given the continuous increase in data violations and other threats to customer privacy. Improving cloud storage safety with end -to -end encryption is more urgent than ever, ”he declares in a statement sent to this medium.
Against drugs and against encryption
The trend is general. In France it is a bill against drug trafficking that has included a provision to transgress the encryption of digital communications. Called “Remove France from the drug trafficking”the initiative aims to increase the capacities of the Security Forces Galas to combat this type of crimes or the provisions against money laundering, harming the encryption in its small print.
The project is promoted by socialists and Republicans (center-right). “Senators try to give body to the obsession of the leaders of recent years: access the content of encrypted communications, for example through WhatsApp, Signal or Telegram applications,” denounces the quadrature du netthe reference organization in the defense of digital rights in France.
Senators try to give body to the obsession of the leaders of recent years: access the content of encrypted communications, for example through WhatsApp, Signal or Telegram applications
La Quadrature du net
– on a French bill against drug trafficking
As in the British case, the French organization emphasizes that weakening encryption in a world place would affect all digital security. “End -to -end encryption is designed so that not even the companies themselves have access to the messages. Introducing an access, a “rear door”, would weaken the level of protection of all communications, and, in fact, this is not planned anywhere in the world. Encryption is a security measure; Breaking it would make the digital world vulnerable and would not benefit anyone, ”he says, asking that this measure be removed from the final text.
Although the law against drug trafficking has accelerated its parliamentary procedure this 2025, France has been in the spotlight of the encryption defenders since last summer. The arrest of Pável Dúrov, founder and leader of Telegram, was unprecedented action by Justice Gala against senior technological executives. Although the application has become a usual meeting place for cybercounts, the arrest elevates the doubts of security experts since part of the accusations against the Russian had to do with Telegram encryption.
The Russian executive was released at the end of August and promised to collaborate with French justice. Since then there has been no news about the state of the positions that weigh against him.
Chat control to stop child abuse
The great offensive against encryption in Europe in recent years took place last legislature within the EU. The former Colegio de Commissioners proposed a regulation to protect minors from abuse in the digital field. Its measures included one that asked the technological ones to leave a hole in the encrypted of the conversations to allow an algorithm to track all the messages in search of child pornography.
The initiative suffered a thunderous campaign against him, both for security experts and in the networks. It ended up being known as “chat control” for its aspiration to monitor the contents that were shared in all digital conversations. This pressure ended up in the arrangement of the European Parliament, which rejected the text proposed by the Commission and eliminated that algorithmic supervision through a back door in the encryption.
However, the interest of multiple countries to carry out a directive of these characteristics did not decline. Poland, which will hold the EU rotary presidency until June, has refloated the commission’s former proposal and wants to resume negotiations for this legislature. Spain, Italy or Hungary were among the countries that had positioned themselves in favor of carrying out a door from the back for encryption at European level.
In this sense, Javier Zarzalejos, president of the Commission of Civil Liberties, Justice and Interior Affairs of the Eurocamara, recently confirmed in a conversation with Eldiario.es that the positioning of the institution regarding breaking the encryption of the conversations remains the same: “Maintaining respect for encrypted services” will continue to be a red line for Parliament negotiators in this legislature.
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