UK Reportedly Orders Apple To Allow Government Access to User Data on iPhones

The United Kingdom’s security officials have ordered that Apple create a so-called 'back door' allowing them to retrieve all the content any Apple user worldwide has uploaded to the cloud, The Washington Post reported on Friday citing people familiar with the matter.

According to the report, the UK's Office of the Home Secretary has served Apple with a document called a technical capability notice, ordering it to provide access. While Britain’s order is not new for Apple, its scope may force Apple to discontinue end-to-end encryption to avoid further action. The government’s undisclosed order requires Apple to let them access “fully encrypted material,” not just assistance in breaking into a particular app or Apple account.

"We do not comment on operational matters, including for example confirming or denying the existence of any such notices," a Home Office spokesperson told Reuters.

Britain in January used its regulatory powers to launch an investigation into Apple and Google's smartphone operating systems, app stores and browsers.

Escalated clampdown, including orders that allow governments to monitor encrypted devices, could end up turning tech companies, such as Apple, into government tools—which they have so far tried to avoid.

In 2016, the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation, popularly known as FBI, instructed Apple to provide them with tools to crack open an iPhone used by one of the attackers in the San Bernardino shootings. Apple continuously resisted the FBI’s demands, citing concerns about user privacy — which the company profoundly pitches to its customers against Android. The iPhone maker also said that creating a backdoor could encourage hackers. FBI eventually came up with its set of tools necessary to bypass Apple’s security standards on the attacker’s iPhone.

Like the FBI and the UK’s Home Office, regulators from several other countries have pressured companies into handing over tools that can give them easy access to their devices — a nightmare for privacy advocates who have warned against increased surveillance should that happen.

– Written with inputs from Reuters