Let's pretend Apple does this. Since we're now firmly in imagination land, let's pretend Google, Facebook, and all the other major players also do this.
Great. Now what? What's to stop global terrorists using an encryption app that's not backdoored? This will end up a perpetual game of wack-a-mole where only the innocent lose out.
So, what's really the point? I can't help but feel that all this is not to spy on terrorists, but on us. Pretty sure MI5, the CIA, Mossad et al all know that terrorists will up their game, so what's the real reason for this? Is this nothing more than a Trojan horse?
I can see a scenario where the monitoring of every citizen leads to data patterns that can be analysed for changes. At least theoretically, it would then be possible to classify behavioural changes as "teenager acting out", "new job", "having an affair", etc, etc with red flags being raised when the algorithms determine "could be becoming a terrorist." The current commercial surveillance apparatus masquerading as advertising-based services has already started this process, except they don't care about crimes or terrorism or any other behaviour except insofar as it enables them to identify what products and services you are likely to pay for, which information they can then sell to advertisers.
I'm not sure how I feel about that approach. On the one hand, if operated by fair-minded decent people in the manner in which it is intended then it's working towards the public good. On the other hand, fair-minded decent people tend not to stay long in such operations.
Some of the Annie Machon interviews are still on YouTube and we know about 7/7. We’ve also been watching your kangaroo courts with the Assange trial. You might get some respect the day you go after real criminals the way you go after those who report your own criminal activities.
Let's pretend Apple does this. Since we're now firmly in imagination land, let's pretend Google, Facebook, and all the other major players also do this.
Great. Now what? What's to stop global terrorists using an encryption app that's not backdoored? This will end up a perpetual game of wack-a-mole where only the innocent lose out.
So, what's really the point? I can't help but feel that all this is not to spy on terrorists, but on us. Pretty sure MI5, the CIA, Mossad et al all know that terrorists will up their game, so what's the real reason for this? Is this nothing more than a Trojan horse?
First of all, I find it disturbing that the head on MI5 is lying -- there are known technologies that can access information that is not encrypted on iPhones, and of course Android is an open book.
Second, being who he is he has to already know -- or have been told by his data scientists -- that something is either secure, or it isn't. If there's a backdoor of any kind, it will be abused, exploited, figured out, and published worldwide for bad actors. As Retrogusto mentions (way) above, other countries have plenty of leverage to demand the same "exceptional access" (the latest term for "backdoor") as given to anyone else.
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I'm not sure how I feel about that approach. On the one hand, if operated by fair-minded decent people in the manner in which it is intended then it's working towards the public good. On the other hand, fair-minded decent people tend not to stay long in such operations.
There are some good reasons for being scared of what a global private communication network may enable.
That's the answer. The answer is "no."
First of all, I find it disturbing that the head on MI5 is lying -- there are known technologies that can access information that is not encrypted on iPhones, and of course Android is an open book.
So the answer is "no."