Apple CEO Tim Cook says Apple has been helping the UK government investigate the recent terror attacks in London.
In an interview with Bloomberg, Cook stated Apple has been responding to all data requests from UK police and added that the UK has gone through “the lawful process” in order to obtain this data.
He also said that although Apple’s systems are end-to-end encrypted, there is still information technology companies can send over to help investigations in the form of metadata.
This means the actual content of the messages cannot be shared, but the context of those messages can – including when a message was sent, from where, and to who.
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Following the most recent terror attack in London last weekend, the Conservative government has emphasised the need for new digital regulations to combat extremism.
Prime Minister, Theresa May, stated that the new measures are needed to “deprive the extremists of their safe spaces online.”
Talks on internet regulations are sure to continue, especially if the Conservative Party wins the UK election on June 8.
It was also revealed that if the Conservative Party does win, it will attempt to introduce new legislation that could force tech companies to hand over encrypted data.
Do you think tech companies should hand over encrypted data to governments? Let us know in the comments.
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Editorial independence
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.
