British and American officials have held talks to allay fears that Britain is trying to create a backdoor to obtain encrypted data belonging to Americans, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter.
In February, it was revealed that British law enforcement had asked Apple for access to encrypted user data. The company soon removed its Advanced Data Protection end-to-end cloud encryption feature from British customers. As a result, the company gained access to users’ backup data, such as iMessage conversations, which it otherwise did not have, and the ability to hand over that information to authorities if asked.
Tech companies and governments have been battling for years for secure encryption to protect users’ communications, which they see as an obstacle to mass surveillance and crime-fighting programs. But Britain’s demands were unprecedented. US authorities decided to conduct an investigation to determine whether London had violated agreements between the two countries by demanding access to encrypted data in the cloud.
Apple has decided to appeal the British authorities’ demand – the hearing on the case is scheduled to take place today, March 14.