tyb
https://www.rt.com/news/612357-uk-apple-user-data-spying/
UK demands Apple allow spying on users worldwide – WaPo
The secret order reportedly requires the tech giant to provide a backdoor to encrypted cloud data
The UK government has issued a “technical capability notice” to Apple, compelling the tech giant to create a backdoor to its encrypted iCloud service, the Washington Post reported on Friday. The move would enable UK law enforcement and security agencies to access encrypted data stored by Apple users worldwide, according to the newspaper.
The UK’s Investigatory Powers Act (IPA), referred to by critics as the “Snoopers’ Charter,” grants authorities the power to mandate that tech companies permit access to users’ data for investigative purposes. It also makes it a criminal offense to reveal that the government has made such a demand. The recent notice requires Apple to provide a means for decrypting user data. It is currently protected by end-to-end encryption, ensuring that only users can access their information.
Creating such backdoors could weaken overall security and set a dangerous precedent, according to Daniel Castro, vice-president of the US-based Information Technology and Innovation Foundation. In a statement on Friday, he has described the UK’s move as an “unjustified over-reach that threatens the security and privacy of individuals and businesses around the world.”
Last March, in a submission to the a parliamentary committee, Apple expressed concern that the IPA could be used to force companies to “break encryption by inserting backdoors into their software products.” Apple asserted that it “would never build a backdoor” and would rather withdraw “critical safety features” from the UK market affecting the security of British users’ data.
Ross McKenzie, a data protection partner at law firm Addleshaw Goddard, told the Guardian that the UK order could lead to a clash with the EU, potentially affecting agreements that allow the free flow of personal data between the UK and Europe.
UK security officials argue that encryption can hinder efforts to combat crime and terrorism. “Maintaining proportionate, lawful access to such communications in the face of ever-more prevalent encryption is sometimes our only means of detecting and understanding these threats,” Ken McCallum, head of the UK’s domestic intelligence agency MI5, stated last October. He believes that “privacy and exceptional lawful access can coexist if absolutist positions are avoided.”
The UK Home Office has declined to confirm or deny the existence of the notice, stating, “We do not comment on operational matters,” according to The Guardian.
Apple has long defended the encryption of its operating systems, notably challenging the FBI in court in 2016 over a demand for a “backdoor” to access the iPhone of a suspect in the San Bernardino, California, terrorist attack. In legal filings, Apple argued that the US government was requesting something it did not possess and that creating such a tool would be “too dangerous.”
The FBI eventually unlocked the phone using an Israeli spy tool, though it reportedly found nothing of value. Later revelations showed that other Israeli spyware, called Pegasus, had been used to hack tens of thousands of iPhones worldwide, targeting journalists, dissidents, and even heads of state.
spoiler dat shit..
https://slaynews.com/news/anti-trump-uk-ambassador-us-melts-down-question-close-relationship-jeffrey-epstein/
Anti-Trump UK Ambassador to US Melts Down Over Question About His ‘Close Relationship’ with Jeffrey Epstein
Lord Peter Mandelson, the far-left anti-Trump new UK ambassador to Washington D.C., imploded in an expletive-laden meltdown when a reporter asked him about his “close” ties to child trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.
Mandelson, a member of the UK’s ruling socialist Labour Party and member of Britain’s House of Lords, is known to have had a “close relationship” with Epstein, a convicted pedophile who was found dead in a New York jail cell in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.
His friendship with Epstein was exposed in court documents that were made public.
However, Mandelson continues to deny the relationship, claiming they were only brief acquaintances, despite photos emerging showing the two men had a long-held close friendship.
On Thursday, Mandelson reportedly imploded with rage and told an interviewer from the Financial Times to “f**k off” after being questioned about his ties to Epstein.
Mandelson reportedly met the pedophile after being introduced through Epstein’s former lover and convicted sex trafficking accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell.
“I regret ever meeting him or being introduced to him by his partner Ghislaine Maxwell,” he told the outlet as he appeared to return to the script during a conversation aboard a high-speed train in the UK.
“I regret even more the hurt he caused to many young women.”
The reporter questioned Epstein’s relationship with Mandelson.
Court documents revealed that a 2019 internal document from JPMorgan noted a “particularly close relationship” between Epstein, Prince Andrew, and Mandelson.
Mandelson was described as “a senior member of the British government.”
The missive became public after it was filed in federal court in New York years later.
As reports began to emerge about the train encounter, a British embassy spokesperson issued a statement repeating the new ambassador’s remarks about Epstein and his behavior.
“As Lord Mandelson has said in response to questions about Epstein, he regrets ever meeting him or being introduced to him,” the spokesperson said.
“He regrets even more the hurt he caused to many young women.”
Prince Andrew was named in a document dump last year as an associate of Epstein’s as part of a civil lawsuit from Epstein accuser Virginia Roberts Giuffre.
Giuffre accused the British royal of raping her at Maxwell’s London townhouse when she was underage.
She claims the prince also raped her on two other occasions while she was just 17 years old.
He has denied her allegations, but he paid her an undisclosed settlement in 2022.
Andrew has been relieved of his royal duties as part of the fallout over her claims.
While Epstein died facing allegations he operated an international sex-trafficking ring, his accomplices and clients remain unknown outside of Maxwell.
moar..