The FBI has expressed its concerns over Apple’s plans to offer end-to-end encryption that aims to keep its users’ iCloud data protected.
The encryption feature, called Advanced Data Protection, will offer tight security to iCloud data which would make it close to impossible even for Apple to access said data.
Not only would the company be unable to comply with law enforcement requests to access suspects’ messages, videos, and photos, but also it would be infinitely more difficult to clamp down on terrorism threats, violent criminals, and the like.
During the first half of 2021, Apple responded to 7,122 “valid legal requests” from US authorities for iCloud data.
With this new feature, the brand seems to be washing its hands off that legal responsibility.
The FBI told the Washington Post it was “deeply concerned with the threat end-to-end and user-only-access encryption pose.”
A statement read: “This hinders our ability to protect the American people from criminal acts ranging from cyber-attacks and violence against children to drug trafficking, organised crime and terrorism.
“In this age of cybersecurity and demands for ‘security by design,’ the FBI and law enforcement partners need ‘lawful access by design.’”
Apple is now wedged between the walls of its commitment to user data protection and law enforcement agencies who complain that it would be difficult to safeguard people from real threats.
“Apple makes the most secure mobile devices on the market. And now, we are building on that powerful foundation,” said Ivan Krstić, Apple’s head of Security Engineering and Architecture in a Newsroom post announcing the feature, on December 7. “Advanced Data Protection is Apple’s highest level of cloud data security, giving users the choice to protect the vast majority of their most sensitive iCloud data with end-to-end encryption so that it can only be decrypted on their trusted devices.”
Facetime and iMessage also uses end-to-end encryption to ensure the privacy of conversations.
Apple Newsroom stated, “With iMessage Contact Key Verification, users who face extraordinary digital threats — such as journalists, human rights activists, and members of government — can choose to further verify that they are messaging only with the people they intend.”
