Zack WhittakerFeb 21, 2025

Signal has long said it'd "rather shut down or leave a market" than add a backdoor or weaken its encryption.

Apple also had this option when it was ordered by the UK government to build an iCloud backdoor. Apple could have said — without violating secrecy laws — why it was leaving the UK, rather than weaken the security of all of its UK customers.

Instead, Apple capitulated to the demand to keep operating, and prioritized its profits over its customers' security.

https://techcrunch.com/2025/02/21/apple-pulls-icloud-end-to-end-encryption-feature-for-uk-users-after-government-demanded-backdoor/

Apple pulls iCloud end-to-end encryption feature for UK users after government demanded backdoor | TechCrunch

In an unprecedented step, Apple caved to a reported U.K. government’s demand to prevent users from using end-to-end encryption in iCloud.

TechCrunch
Show threadPsionmarkFeb 21, 2025
@zackwhittaker What choice did Apple have in this? The alternative was building a backdoor and not telling anyone, which I'm sure most would agree is a terrible solution. At least this way we know what the score is and we can choose to not use iCloud any longer (which is what I’m going to be doing), or move away from Apple altogether, (which I might also do). But if I do either of those things, it's because of a decision by the UK government, not Apple.
Show threadAlvynFeb 21, 2025
@Psionmark @zackwhittaker What about go to court? This is fucking outrageous you presenting only two options. Every gov will want the same now.
Show threadPsionmark
@alvyntc @zackwhittaker I can’t imagine for one minute Apple didn’t consider that option. After all, it’s not exactly good for business.
Feb 21, 2025 at 9:16pmIvory for iOS