Wednesday, December 23, 2015

Apple warns UK surveillance bill would 'spark serious international conflicts'

Apple has formally opposed the UK's draft surveillance bill, which will force some companies operating in the UK to weaken or abandon encryption.

Much of the draft Investigatory Powers Bill (DRIPA), unveiled last month, rewrites and clarifies existing laws that explicitly allow the UK government to continue carrying out the surveillance operations in progress for the past decade, such as phone hacking and installing malware on target devices. But one key element of the law has proven controversial: forcing tech companies to "remove any encryption" when demanded by authorities.

The iPhone and iPad maker submitted an eight-page letter Monday, the last day in which the UK's parliamentary subcommittee was accepting outside written evidence, saying that the bill "threatens to hurt law-abiding citizens in its effort to combat the few bad actors who have a variety of ways to carry out their attacks."

"The creation of backdoors and intercept capabilities would weaken the protections built into Apple products and endanger all our customers. A key left under the doormat would not just be there for the good guys. The bad guys would find it too," the letter read. Full story...

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