14 DAY TRIAL // Australia wants Apple to create an iPhone backdoor that would allow the government to access data stored on a device, as the country struggles to deal with strong encryption under a new proposed law.
Attorney-General George Brandis will meet with Apple officials this week to discuss how the company can comply with the new regulations and help law enforcement should access to one of its devices be requested, with an iPhone backdoor said to be one of the first things on the agenda.
Brandis told SkyNews the government hopes to see what he described as “voluntary cooperation” from tech companies, which basically comes down to tech firm agreeing with putting backdoors in its products, but a backup plan is also prepared should they refuse to comply.
“But we will also be legislating so that we do have that coercive power if […] we don't get the cooperation we seek. We will be pursuing both of these avenues,” he was quoted as saying.
Apple likely to say “no”
Even though Apple is yet to comment on such a request until now, the Cupertino-based company is very likely to refuse bundling backdoors into its products, especially given the similar disputes that the firm was involved in with other governments across the world.
The most famous case happened in the United States where the FBI requested the company to unlock the iPhone used by one of the San Bernardino terrorists, with Apple refusing to comply invoking national security and privacy of its users.
After appealing a court order and getting the support of other tech companies in the United States, Apple was believed to be working on a hacker-proof iPhone that would make such requests redundant in the first place, especially because neither the company or a third-party would be able to unlock the device.
More information on the discussions between Apple and the government of Australia will surface later this week, and it’ll be interesting to see how Cupertino once again sidesteps the official request to bundle a backdoor into its products.