Apple has warned that it will shut down services such as FaceTime and iMessage in the U.K. if the government goes ahead with controversial legislation.
A proposed update to the Investigatory Powers Act 2016 is currently in open consultation. Members of the public are invited to offer feedback on the amendments, which include a requirement for messaging services to notify the Home Office, a department of the British Government that handles immigration, security, and law and order, of new security features before they are rolled out, and the right for the Home Office to privately demand that security features be disabled immediately. Under current legislation, the latter can be requested, but there is an independent oversight process and room for appeal before action is taken.
“As it stands, during a review period the operator is not required to comply with the notice, so far as referred, until the Secretary of State has concluded the review,” the consultation document explains. “Where an operator is seeking to make changes to their system that would have a detrimental effect on a current lawful access capability, this could create a capability gap during the review period, which is an issue we believe should be addressed.”
Apple has offered its feedback in the most robust form, the BBC reports. Indeed it has consistently opposed the changes–which have been called a “snooper’s charter”–throughout the entire process. Aside from the changes to regulations governing messaging security features, Apple objects to having to make global changes to its products in order to comply with U.K.-specific rules. The company insists that, to comply with one country’s laws, it will not make changes that it characterises as “a serious and direct threat to data security and information privacy” for users around the globe.
Many messaging services, including iMessage and FaceTime, feature end-to-end encryption, which means the proprietors of those services cannot access the content of messages even if instructed to do so by a judge. But the new legislation would give the Home Office powers to require services to remove encryption, and thus gain access to the information contained in future messages.
So serious is Apple in its opposition that it has threatened to close down its messaging services in this country rather than comply with the amendments. Whether this threat is genuine is difficult to judge; iMessage (not to mention the “green bubble shame” of joining an iMessage group chat from an Android phone) is a valuable weapon for tempting phone users into the iOS walled garden, and FaceTime is almost as popular. Removing these key products would hinder Apple’s progress in a major market–but it might see this as a sacrifice worth making in order to avoid what it sees as hindering the security of its products in all markets.
Needless to say, however, Cupertino will hope that the U.K. government doesn’t call its bluff—assuming it is one.
