Matthew Green on Nostr: As to question (1), the article isn’t super clear. But it’s worth pointing out ...

As to question (1), the article isn’t super clear. But it’s worth pointing out that Apple doesn’t just provide end-to-end encryption for backups through their ADP feature. They also provide end-to-end encrypted backup for health data, web history and passwords, even without ADP.

So “we want a backdoor to access iCloud encryption” could mean access to those password vaults and secure health data. This means Apple would have to disable those features in the UK as well, or deploy new insecure encryption code that could affect users globally.

It’s also possible that the UK is asking for a backdoor in Apple’s iMessage text messaging system. That isn’t technically “iCloud” but it’s adjacent enough that I could see it getting presented that way. This would not be the first time the UK gov expressed interest in that.

What’s worrying here is that the UK government seems absolutely determined to access user private data, no matter the bad press and the consequences. And they’re now willing to do it overtly. Between this and recent moves against encryption in the EU, we’re going to a bad place.