Apple has joined the chorus of tech industry opposition to the planned new Online Safety Bill, which would undermine end-to-end encryption within popular messaging apps like iMessage.
The government wants to ensure messaging apps can be scanned for the sharing of child abuse images, but the tech giant wants the controversial bill to maintain the full protections of E2EE.
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iMessage, WhatsApp, Signal, Telegrams and other apps’ policies of ensuring full end-to-end encryption would come under threat if the bill becomes law in the UK.
It would, for instance, enable Ofcom to be able to force companies to use technology to scan for the offending images. That would potentially give third parties access to the messages, beyond the sender and recipient.
In a statement to the BBC, Apple says: “End-to-end encryption is a critical capability that protects the privacy of journalists, human rights activists, and diplomats.
“It also helps everyday citizens defend themselves from surveillance, identity theft, fraud, and data breaches. The Online Safety Bill poses a serious threat to this protection, and could put UK citizens at greater risk. Apple urges the government to amend the bill to protect strong end-to-end encryption for the benefit of all.”
Interestingly, Apple abandoned its own plans to scan messages for child sexual abuse material after opposition from rivals and privacy advocates. Apple’s tech would have scanned for known images during the upload process. Apple said it wouldn’t bow to any government requests to intervene in the scheme. However, the plan was killed at the end of last year.
Would you be willing to tolerate some caveats to end-to-end encryption to achieve the aims the government is targeting or must there be another solution that fully protects E2EE? Let us know @trustedreviews on Twitter.
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
