APPLE DROPS ENCRYPTED BACKUPS

FBI investigations made easier by change of plan

APPLE’S IPHONES PERIODICALLY make backups to Apple’s servers, in case you lose or break your phone. Unlike your phone’s internal data, the encryption key for these backups is held by Apple. Under a court order, Apple can retrieve the data for law enforcement agencies—it handed over the contents of 18,000 accounts to intelligence agencies in the first half of last year. Two years ago, Apple started working on a project to fully encrypt the backups with the user’s own key. This was to making hacking more difficult. Then it, very quietly, didn’t. Why? It transpires that the FBI, and others, weren’t happy, and made that clear in private talks. Both parties are being tight-lipped about who forced who to do what, and when. Apple doesn’t want to be seen as hindering the pursuit of dangerous criminals, and the FBI doesn’t want to appear to demand that it can snoop on who it likes.

Apple isn’t popular at the FBI. Its phones often hold materiel important to investigations, and it was the first to encrypt data on its phones, making it difficult to retrieve without the owner’s encryption key. Apple has, depending on your point of view, been uncooperative or protective. In 2016, the pair had a spat over unlocking a suspect’s phone. The FBI asked Apple to create a new version of iOS, which could circumnavigate the security features. Apple declined, and legal proceedings to force it to comply were instigated. These were dropped after the FBI got a third party to hack the phone, but was public about its disappointment with Apple. It transpires that Apple took the hint. According to “insiders,” it was Apple’s legal department that pulled the plug on the project.