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- 🌊 The UK Wants Your Data
🌊 The UK Wants Your Data
Governments want “back doors” to encrypted data. Is that a good idea?
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By Max Frost
Easily lost among the headlines last week was a story with massive ramifications for all of us.
Right now, every message you send, every photo you back up, and every file you store on your phone is locked away with encryption – scrambled into an indecipherable code that only you can unlock. Not even Apple has access to it. That’s been the standard for years, a safeguard against hackers, governments, and even corporate overreach. But last month, the UK government made an unprecedented demand: For Apple to build them a secret key – not just to access Britons’ data, but that of any Apple user in the world.
What happens next could affect global privacy and data rights for years to come. In today’s deep-dive, we give the full story.
In 2016, the UK government passed one of the most sweeping surveillance laws in the Western world. Officially called the Investigatory Powers Act, but widely known as the "Snoopers’ Charter," it gave British authorities unprecedented access to citizens’ digital lives. It required internet providers to store records of every website visited by UK users for a year, granted intelligence agencies the power to hack into devices, and – most controversially – allowed the government to secretly demand that tech companies weaken their own security measures in the name of national security. These demands, known as Technical Capability Notices (TCNs), are issued in secret and require companies like Apple, WhatsApp, and Signal to comply without informing the public.
For years, the Investigatory Powers Act was a looming but mostly theoretical threat to global tech firms, as they resisted calls to weaken encryption. But in recent weeks, that changed. The UK government quietly issued a TCN to Apple, demanding that the company create a backdoor into its encrypted iCloud backups.
As mentioned before, whenever you store something on Apple’s cloud, encryption means that only you – no government, no hacker, and not even Apple – is able to unlock the data and see it. The UK government wanted the key, and not just to British users’ private messages, photos, and data, but all Apple users globally.
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Editor’s Note
What do you think of Director Gabbard’s stance? What about the UK’s? Under what conditions, if any, should companies have to turn over data? We’re curious to hear your thoughts. Send them in by replying to this email.
We’ll be back tomorrow. Also, here are our last five stories, in case you missed any:
Reader Replies
On Saturday, we ran a story about the populist appeal of cutting aid to Ukraine. On Sunday, we ran an interview with someone who thinks that decision could lead to nuclear war. Our goal is to provide differing perspectives and then let you make up your own, and we were glad to see how many of you appreciated that this weekend. Thank you all for the replies.
Regarding the interview, Johnny wrote:
So glad you guys got someone from the Chatham house! Incredible piece because I think you guys asked the right questions. Well done. I would have been interested to get his opinion if how this plays out, if it will significantly influence China's move with Taiwan in 2027+.
And Asher replied:
Man, I think it's wild that there's talk about how the U.S. has now revealed itself as an enemy to The EU. Everybody is trying to play mental chess and predict several moves in the future when... it's not that complicated. Trump is just being himself. He does not spend money willy-nilly or out of habit. He won't give Zelensky money, just because he asks; nor will he join a European think-tank because everyone's worried. In other words, he does not do things out of sentiment nor will he remain a part of something based on warm feelings or because there's been great history. He's a business man through and through, and a very emotional one at that. You hurt his feelings and you'll never hear the end of it.
And I don't agree with vilifying Russia all the time, forever. It's dumb to not talk to them at all and never try to play ball with them. Once you figure out what makes someone tick and what really grinds their gears, you can dangle carrots in front of them and divert their attention to things that matter to them, but don't really matter in the grand scheme of things. If the sky is falling, it will be a good thing that Trump has Putin's number on speed-dial and vice versa. It's better than a diplomat waiting in the lobby for hours... just for a 5-minute meeting or to be turned away.
Nicolas disagreed:
Thank you for this! I think the American education system is to blame for how many Americans forget just how dangerous Russia is. Russia is an imperialistic, autocratic state hellbent on restoring an empire with Putin as Emperor. As Americans, we have prided ourselves since the beginning on being on the side of freedom and liberal values. Our new isolationist rhetoric forgets just how global the world has become and how
important our ties are across the globe. We have to defend democracy because it’s not about the resources or the minerals. It’s about the principle. Putin is a former KGB thug who has poisoned dissidents, jailed protestors and killed rival politicians. There should be absolutely no question about our role in this conflict. We cannot bow down.
And Paul from Delaware disagreed with that:
I really don’t see Russia as a threat to a combined Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Poland, Sweden, etc…. Russia’s economy is a joke, and its logistics capabilities are terrible. Russia has been unable to defeat Ukraine over three years. Given that fact, why is anyone afraid of Russia? Yes, they have nuclear weapons, but short of using them, they cannot defeat Europe in a conventional war.
We love the ideological diversity of our audience. Thank you all for reading, and see you tomorrow.
–Max and Max