FBI Expresses Concerns About Apple's New iCloud End-to-End Encryption

Apple's announcement for end-to-end encryption received different reactions from privacy groups, companies, and government authorities.

While privacy advocates celebrate Apple's new iCloud encryption feature, the government agency is deeply concerned.

Data Encryption

Users and privacy advocates have been calling for Apple to implement end-to-end encryption for all iCloud data for quite some time, and the firm finally did so. This includes backups of users' devices, contacts, messages, images, and many more.

Data stored in iCloud is encrypted using end-to-end encryption, or what Apple refers to as "Advanced Data Protection."

When using Advanced Data Protection, only the authorized device can access the contents of your iCloud account. This makes it unreadable by Apple, the police, or any other authority.

Before these changes, Apple claimed how well it protects user privacy, yet its products and services still leave people open to monitoring, especially by the authorities.

Unfortunately, much of the iCloud data customers save may be accessed by police with a court warrant.

Backlash

MacRumors reported that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) expressed concerns about end-to-end and user-only encryption despite the announcement.

Apparently, end-to-end encryption and Apple's Advanced Data Protection make the FBI's job more challenging. Therefore, they want "lawful access by design."

According to the agency, this undermines the bureau's capacity to defend the American people from cyberattacks, violence against minors, drug trafficking, organized crime, and terrorism.

Former FBI agent Sasha O'Connell told The New York Times that it is nice to see companies emphasizing security. Still, they must also consider the implications on law enforcement access to digital evidence.

Apple's Advanced Data Protection was described as necessary but overdue by the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project (STOP). The group seems to be disappointed that end-to-end encryption would be opt-in only and not enabled by default.

Executive director Fox Cahn remarked, "It's good to see Apple's privacy protections catching up with its sales pitch, but making these protections opt-in will leave most users vulnerable."

Positive Comments

Meanwhile, several organizations and businesses have applauded Apple for its latest move.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), pressing Apple to implement end-to-end encryption and strengthen privacy protections for some time, released a statement after the company's announcements. It praised the new privacy-focused features and Apple's recommitment to protecting user data.

Signal's CEO, Meredith Whittaker, also commended Apple's move to provide end-to-end encryption in a recent interview with The Washington Post, calling it "incredible."

On Twitter, privacy-focused advocacy organization Fight for the Future said that Apple's introduction of end-to-end encryption validates the company's self-promotion as privacy-conscious.

The organization has now issued a call to Apple, saying that the company must non-negotiably add RCS texting to the iPhone.

RCS, as described by Wired, is an improvement to smartphones' SMS/MMS messaging standards that supports read receipts and pictures and provides further security levels.