New UK Law Could Force Tech Companies To Hand Over Encryption Keys

Love or hate Apple, if there is one thing that the company is doing right that most would agree on, is that they are giving its users the keys to the device’s encryption. This is what other companies such as Google have done as well, where basically only you can unlock your phone and retrieve its contents, as opposed to the tech companies being able to do that remotely.

However according to a report from The Telegraph, a new law in the UK could change that. The report claims that the new law will basically require tech companies such as Apple and Google to hold the key to the encryption on your phone. This is so that in the event that law enforcement needs access to the contents of a device, tech companies will be able to unlock it.

The law has not come into effect yet as it is currently a bill that is being proposed, but if it should, no doubt companies like Apple and Google will not be too happy, along with the millions of users of their products. As it stands over in the US, Apple has recently stated that it is impossible for them to unlock iPhones as long as it runs on the company’s newer operating system.

This is something that the Department of Justice isn’t too happy about, and have argued that Apple should be able to since iOS is considered to be licensed to Apple’s customers, as opposed to being sold. However for now at least as far as the US is concerned, this is something that Apple and other tech companies aren’t budging on.

Tyler Lee
Categories: Apple, Cellphones
Tags: Legal, Privacy, Security