Congress is PISSED at British Backdoor Bid, but Apple Stays Shtum – Source: securityboulevard.com

Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) got no love for the United  Kingdom.

These two congresscritters want Tulsi Gabbard (R-Hawaii) to slap down the UK. They’re all riled up about the Brits’ demands that Apple break its iCloud end-to-end encryption, also known as Advanced Data Protection (ADP).

Yeah, but sauce for the goose, and all that. In tonight’s SB  Blogwatch, we go crazy.

Your humble blog­watcher curated these bloggy bits for your enter­tain­ment. Not to mention:  I like it.

Just Meet Me At The ADP

Game start! Joseph Menn sent a kissy face to your phone: U.K. demand for a back door to Apple data threatens Americans, lawmakers say

“Spoke on the condition of anonymity”
Members of key congressional oversight committees wrote to the United States’ new top intelligence official Thursday to warn that a British order demanding government access to Apple users’ encrypted data imperils Americans. Ron Wyden, a Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, and Andy Biggs, a Republican on the House Judiciary committee, wrote to just-sworn-in National Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard and asked her to demand the United Kingdom retract its order.
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The confidential British order … directs Apple to create a back door into its Advanced Data Protection offering, which allows users to fully encrypt data … in Apple’s iCloud storage. Apple cannot retrieve such content even when served with a court order, frustrating authorities looking for evidence of terrorism, child abuse and other serious crimes. The order was issued under the Investigatory Powers Act, which allows the [UK] to require technical cooperation from companies and forbids those companies from disclosing anything about the demands.
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Advisers to the U.S. government, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss closely held infor­ma­tion, … said they were worried that other governments, such as China or even the United States, might demand similar access. … Wyden has been a leading voice against government back doors for years, and Biggs chairs a subcommittee on government surveillance.

What’s the view from Blighty? Graham Fraser’s trying to kiss your lips for real: US politicians furious

“Apple declined to comment”
Two US lawmakers have strongly condemned what they call the UK’s “dangerous” and “shortsighted” request to be able to access encrypted data stored by Apple users worldwide in its cloud service. … What Apple calls “Advanced Data Protection” (ADP) … uses end-to-end encryption, where only the account holder can access the data stored. Apple itself cannot.
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The move by the UK government has stunned experts and worried privacy campaigners, with Privacy International calling it an “unprecedented attack” on the private data of individuals. However the US government has previously asked Apple to break its encryption as part of criminal investigations.
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Apple declined to comment, but says on its website that it views privacy as a “fundamental human right”. … Apple has previously said it would pull encryption services like ADP from the UK market rather than comply with such government demands – telling Parliament it would “never build a back door” in its products.

Red hearts, red hearts. That’s what our own Mark Rasch’s on: Hey, UK, Get Off of My Cloud

“Cloud storage is no longer safe”
This order, issued under the U.K.’s Investigatory Powers Act of 2016—dubbed the “Snoopers’ Charter”—mandates full access to encrypted material, setting off alarms for privacy advocates and tech companies alike. [It is] a “technical capability notice,” … which compels tech companies to assist in government surveillance.
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Unlike a typical warrant that seeks access to specific individuals’ data based on reasonable suspicion, this order demands blanket access to all encrypted cloud backups, effectively dismantling Apple’s end-to-end encryption protections worldwide. This is unprecedented among major democracies. [It] would mean that users in countries with stronger data privacy laws, such as those under the EU’s … GDPR, could also see their data compromised
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Data privacy won’t just be eroded—it will be obliterated. … The takeaway is simple: Assume that cloud storage is no longer safe.

Come give me something I can feel. Shank calls it “a dramatic overreach:”

I think this is an unquestionable overreach on the UK’s part. If you live in any country that isn’t the UK, you should feel the threat from this: the UK government believes that it is entitled to a backdoor on your hardware, even if you’ve never stepped a foot on UK soil.
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Mass surveillance is a threat to everyone, but this is not an instance of that. … This is the UK asking for an encryption backdoor to everything, including for phones that never traverse its soil or internet boundaries, or even cross anywhere near [Five Eyes] collection devices.

But won’t somebody think of the children, baby? Tom cuts to the chase:

Really? Because we all know that … terrorism, child abuse and other serious crimes … are absolutely the only issues that they would ever dream of seeing as a reason to sift through our personal information.
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I’m all for jailing terrorists and child molesters and throwing away the key. I also like my personal freedom to do innocent and legal things without the government poking around in it.

It’s whatever—it’s whatever—it’s whatever you like. Steve Gibson eyerolls furiously:

So we’re back here once again, with the UK again demanding something that none of the providers of secure messaging or secure storage will be willing to accommodate. … Given the history of government abuse of surveillance powers, many argue that the urgency to “protect the children” is just a smoke screen behind which lies a thirst for wider surveillance that could be turned, as it has been elsewhere, onto political rivals and other non-juveniles.

랜덤 게임ᆝ But what if China did this too? DS999 ain’t buying that line:

What they really want is for Apple to treat the UK like they already treat China. In China, the iCloud data of Chinese users must be stored on servers located in China, and encrypted using a key that Apple shares with China.

There’s a danger that the row will fracture the Five Eyes alliance. Avon B7 seeks liberation from “cowboy diplomacy:”

This from the country that promotes ‘clean’ networks and yet would love to have its own backdoors installed across the board. … Perhaps the UK should just say no to the threats and shut down intelligence sharing. It was always a two-way setup anyway. Let’s see how the US does by going it alone. Maybe Canada could do the same. And Australia.
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The threats to the UK were the same over Chinese companies and ICT infrastructure. The UK is wrong in its requirements but the solution is for Apple to appeal and pull out if it isn’t happy with the demands. Threats are the new normal in Washington and I think the allies need to push back with threats of their own.

Meanwhile, sneak suggests there’s not even a There there. Now you know the game—are you ready? [You’re fired—Ed.]

What the UK is asking for is largely already provided to them by Apple: … Approx­i­mately nobody has enabled [ADP]. This is mostly posturing.

And Finally:

좋아하는

CW: A couple of F bombs

Previously in And Finally

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