One of the great things about iMessage and FaceTime is that it encrypts your messages automatically, making it very, very difficult for hackers to spy on the messages you send.
But guess what? If U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron gets his way, iMessage and FaceTime encryption might soon be a thing of the past.
If Cameron he gets re-elected, part of his plan is to make it illegal for anyone to send encrypted messages, the Independent reports.
The Prime Minister said today that he would stop the use of methods of communication that cannot be read by the security services even if they have a warrant. But that could include popular chat and social apps that encrypt their data, such as WhatsApp.
Apple’s iMessage and FaceTime also encrypt their data, and could fall under the ban along with other encrypted chat apps like Telegram.
These moves are being made in the wake of the terrorist attacks on the Charlie Hebdo offices in Paris.
What does it mean if Cameron succeeds? It’s possible that Apple would have to build a backdoor for law personnel into iMessage and FaceTime, or, less likely, unencrypt messages entirely.
Daring Fireball’s John Gruber says it well: “This is a dreadful, oppressive, ignorant idea. There is no magic way to have encryption that only ‘good guys’ can intercept. As for the fear that is driving this, I offer the words of Benjamin Franklin: ‘Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.'”
Source: Independent
John Brownlee is a writer for Fast Company, and a contributing writer here at CoM. He has also written for Wired, Playboy, Boing Boing, Popular Mechanics, VentureBeat, and Gizmodo. He lives in Boston with his wife and two parakeets. You can follow him here on Twitter.
7 responses to “If U.K. prime minister has his way, Apple will stop encrypting iMessage and FaceTime”
How stupid are you with that stupid headline. Apple will never do that. You ignorant fucks.
Well, looks like its gona be very easy who to vote for…
They’re also contemplating banning sending sealed envelopes through the Royal Mail, communicating by whispering into a person’s ear, and conducting conversations in places where the background noise is loud. Don’t even mention excessive use of pronouns and indefinite references like “whats-his-name”, “whatchamacallit”, and “you-know-who”.
Misleading headline, get a clue cultofmac
Misleading headline on main page, get a clue CultOfMac
I honestly don’t see how it’s misleading; Cameron’s just an idiot, really.
This is a silly, uneducated knee-jerk reaction. Something that we’ve come to expect from politicians.
In their world, the common man’s communication will be left vulnerable to predators while the terrorists build their own private networks. In other words, all they’re going to do is drive criminals deeper underground while forcing us to give up our liberty.