14 DAY TRIAL // A new law that’s projected to be announced on Wednesday in the United Kingdom could force phone manufacturers to hold a key that would allow them to access the devices they sell and thus break the encryption systems that users might enable.
Apple, which is one of the companies that use the security of its iPhones as a main selling point, has already criticized the UK government’s push for new bills that would impact privacy and encryption systems on devices sold in the country.
But the new legislation, which The Telegraph calls the Investigatory Powers Bill and which is projected to be announced on Wednesday, will force companies selling phones in the United Kingdom to store a secret key that would allow them to break into any device, should a warrant ask them to.
This would obviously impact sales of some of the targeted companies, as the very same Apple, for instance, claims nobody can bypass the iPhone encryption systems (in fact, not even the company itself can bypass a password or Touch ID configured to restrict access to the device). Additionally, services such as iMessage and FaceTime also use end-to-end encryption to protect conversations, but under the new rule, the company would have to provide access to both when a warrant is provided.
Part of the anti-terrorist fight
The UK’s new bill is specifically supposed to help the fight against terrorists, as British officials claimed that such devices that feature impossible to break encryption systems contribute to what criminals define as a “safe space.”
Prime Minister David Cameron says that everyone should back the law, despite the criticism that users’ privacy could be violated. Cameron explains that the bill is only supposed to help get around the encryption system and access information that could help identify and stop terrorists and criminals exclusively based on warrants.
“As Prime Minister I would just say to people ‘please, let's not have a situation where we give terrorists, criminals, child abductors, safe spaces to communicate,’” he was quoted as saying. “It's not a safe space for them to communicate on a fixed line telephone or a mobile phone, we shouldn't allow the internet to be a safe space for them to communicate and do bad things.”
Statements from Google, Microsoft, and Apple are not yet available, but expect comments to be provided on Wednesday, after the United Kingdom publicly announces the new bill.