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Rights groups Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch on Friday decried the UK government’s order directing Apple to give it access to cloud data, asserting the move “severely harms the privacy rights of users in the UK and worldwide.”
The Washington Post reported last week that the UK Home Office issued a secret order in January 2025 to force Apple to provide security authorities broad access to encrypted user data stored in Apple’s data cloud. Using the Investigatory Powers Act of 2016, the UK government ordered Apple to build a back door to all content stored using Apple’s end-to-end encryption Advanced Data Protection (ADP), a feature that allows users to ensure that only they—and not even Apple—can unlock data stored on its cloud. This order reportedly “requires blanket capability to view fully encrypted material” for Apple users worldwide. The law also makes it a criminal offence to acknowledge, comment or reveal that the government has made such a demand.
Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have consistently put out reports on the risks of mass and targeted surveillance by governments around the world. The rise in digital communications has lowered the barriers to state surveillance, and human rights organizations are concerned that the Home Office’s order would put users’ privacy rights at risk, especially those of human rights defenders, journalists and LGBT activists.
Joshua Franco, a senior research adviser at Amnesty Tech, said, “strong encryption is one of the few protections we have against such attacks, and states should be encouraging companies to provide greater protections of our data and our rights, not seeking back doors that will leave people around the world at risk.”
Internationally, the UK is a signatory to treaties recognizing the importance of privacy rights. The right to privacy, enshrined in Article 12 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Article 17 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), encompasses the right to be free from unlawful or arbitrary interference with one’s privacy, family, home or correspondence, as well as the right to enjoy the protection of the law against such interference or attacks. Domestically, the UK GDPR and Data Protection Act 2018 govern how businesses, governments and organizations collect, store and use personal data. The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has previously called on states to ensure that any interference with the right to privacy, including the restrictions to access and use of encryption technology, complies with international human rights law.
Two US lawmakers have condemned the access request by the UK government. The UK Home Office and Apple have refused to comment on this matter.
The post Amnesty International and HRW say UK order for Apple cloud data undermines privacy rights appeared first on JURIST - News.
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The Washington Post reported last week that the UK Home Office issued a secret order in January 2025 to force Apple to provide security authorities broad access to encrypted user data stored in Apple’s data cloud. Using the Investigatory Powers Act of 2016, the UK government ordered Apple to build a back door to all content stored using Apple’s end-to-end encryption Advanced Data Protection (ADP), a feature that allows users to ensure that only they—and not even Apple—can unlock data stored on its cloud. This order reportedly “requires blanket capability to view fully encrypted material” for Apple users worldwide. The law also makes it a criminal offence to acknowledge, comment or reveal that the government has made such a demand.
Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have consistently put out reports on the risks of mass and targeted surveillance by governments around the world. The rise in digital communications has lowered the barriers to state surveillance, and human rights organizations are concerned that the Home Office’s order would put users’ privacy rights at risk, especially those of human rights defenders, journalists and LGBT activists.
Joshua Franco, a senior research adviser at Amnesty Tech, said, “strong encryption is one of the few protections we have against such attacks, and states should be encouraging companies to provide greater protections of our data and our rights, not seeking back doors that will leave people around the world at risk.”
Internationally, the UK is a signatory to treaties recognizing the importance of privacy rights. The right to privacy, enshrined in Article 12 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Article 17 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), encompasses the right to be free from unlawful or arbitrary interference with one’s privacy, family, home or correspondence, as well as the right to enjoy the protection of the law against such interference or attacks. Domestically, the UK GDPR and Data Protection Act 2018 govern how businesses, governments and organizations collect, store and use personal data. The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has previously called on states to ensure that any interference with the right to privacy, including the restrictions to access and use of encryption technology, complies with international human rights law.
Two US lawmakers have condemned the access request by the UK government. The UK Home Office and Apple have refused to comment on this matter.
The post Amnesty International and HRW say UK order for Apple cloud data undermines privacy rights appeared first on JURIST - News.
Continue reading...
Note: We don't have any responsibilities about this news. Its been posted here by Feed Reader and we had no controls and checking on it. And because News posted here will be deleted automatically after 21 days, threads are closed so that no one spend time to post and discuss here. You can always check the source and discuss in their site.