FBI 'Deeply Concerned' After Apple Says Nearly All iCloud Data Now Has End-to-End Encryption
FBI 'Deeply Concerned' After Apple Says Nearly
All iCloud Data Now Has End-to-End Encryption
Authored by Katabella Roberts via The Epoch Times (emphasis
ours), December 8, 2022
Apple on
Dec. 7 announced a string of new security features, including full
end-to-end encryption for nearly all the data its users store in its
global iCloud storage system, prompting concern from the FBI.
In
an overview of the new
feature posted to the Apple website, the
California-headquartered tech giant said its “Advanced Data
Protection” optional setting will provide its users with the “highest
level of cloud data security” and keep user data safe even in the event of
a data breach in the cloud.
“If you choose to enable Advanced Data Protection, your trusted
devices retain sole access to the encryption keys for the majority of your
iCloud data, thereby protecting it using end-to-end encryption. Additional data
protected includes iCloud Backup, Photos, Notes, and more,” Apple said.
End-to-end encryption means that not even Apple can access the
data, according to the company.
“If you lose access to your account, only you can
recover this data, using your device passcode or
password, recovery contact, or recovery key,” the
company said.
The new feature will be available on iOS 16.2, iPadOS 16.2,
and macOS 13.1 for users in the United States by the end of the year, before
rolling out to the rest of the world in early 2023, according to Apple.
Users can enable it by enrolling in two-factor
authentication for their Apple ID and setting a password or passcode on their
devices.
Apple Hands Over Account Data to FBI
Apple already protects 14 sensitive data categories via
default end-to-end encryption. Data covered by Advanced Data Protection
includes iCloud Backup, photos, notes, reminders, voice memos, and more.
The move marks a turning point for Apple. While its iMessage and
Facetime communications services are fully encrypted end-to-end, the large
majority of what users back up remotely via iCloud, such as photos
and videos, are not.
Apple said on Wednesday that the new data protections represent
the “next step in its ongoing effort to provide users with even stronger ways
to protect their data.”
However, the decision will also no doubt
exacerbate ongoing tensions with law enforcement, including the FBI, which has
requested that Apple hand over data from iPhones multiple times. Apple
does so but only to an extent, according to the company, stopping short of
handing over all of the data on the phone.
According to Apple’s most recent transparency report,
the tech giant handed over data to law enforcement 3,980 times from
January to June 2021, with the majority of the user data tied to Brazil and the
United States.
“Account requests generally seek information regarding
customers’ Apple ID accounts, such as account holder name and address and
account connections to Apple services—for example, law enforcement
investigations where an account may have been used unlawfully,” according to
Apple. “Account requests may also seek customers’ content data, such as photos,
email, iOS device backups, contacts or calendars.”
FBI ‘Deeply Concerned’
In a statement on Wednesday, the FBI said it encourages and
advocates for encryption schemes that provide “lawful access by design,”
meaning that tech companies issued with a “legal order” can decrypt data
and hand it over to law enforcement.
The agency added that it “continues to be deeply
concerned with the threat end-to-end and user-only-access
encryption pose,” which it said hinders its ability to protect Americans
from an array of crimes including cyberattacks and terrorism.
However, proponents of the increased data protection have
praised the move.
Matthew Green, a cryptographer and associate professor at the
Johns Hopkins Information Security Institute, wrote on
Twitter that Apple “sets the standard on what secure (consumer) cloud backup
looks like,” noting that the move will “have repercussions all over the
industry as competitors chase them.”
The Epoch Times has contacted the FBI for comment.
Elsewhere
on Wednesday, Apple announced iMessage Contact Key Verification, through
which users can verify they are communicating only with whom they intend,
and Security Keys, which grants users the option to require a physical
security key to sign in to their Apple ID account.
The
Associated Press contributed to this report.
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