Yeah there's no one I'd trust with my personal data except Apple. Their track record of refusing to bow down to the feds has been golden. 24 carat infact.
Apple literally removed encrypted file storage as a feature in the UK rather than comply with demands for access to encrypted customer data from the UK government.
Previously, they refused US government demands for a backdoor that would allow them to unlock locked devices.
> Apple literally removed encrypted file storage as a feature in the UK rather than comply with demands for access to encrypted customer data from the UK government.
Does that mean that instead of UK government accessing the data (through a backdoor), UK government can now access to data (because it's not encrypted at all)?
They removed a specific (non-default) feature which provided end to end encryption rather than build a backdoor. They continue to offer encrypted backups etc. although they hold the keys. So not great but also not a backdoor that breaks encryption for everyone and can potential be accessed without legal oversight.
They offer standard encryption by default, where they hold a copy of your encryption key and can assist you if you lose access to your key.
They also allow you to opt into advanced data protection, where they do not have a copy of your encryption key, so you need to be sure you protect it yourself.
If a company has a copy of the customer's encryption key on their server, you have no choice but to hand it over in response to a warrant, as we recently saw with Microsoft handing over the bitlocker key for a customer's computer.
After Apple's announcement that they would remove encryption from UK users rather than weaken it, the bad press and public pressure forced the UK government to back down.
Maybe, weren't it for the fact that we're having age verification and IDV ("protect the kids"), hardware attestation, removal of 3rd party APKs, etc. heaved upon us.
We've never had so many threats to our privacy and liberties heaved upon us, and the rate is accelerating.
> Cook conveyed to lawmakers that device-level age assurance proposals should not require the collection of sensitive data like birth certificate or social security number, and that parents should be trusted to provide the age of a child when creating a child's account. Any data used for determining age should not be kept by app stores or developers, according to Apple.
While Google has rejected China's terms and moved out of the mainland, China has set up a separate iMessage/iCloud system that complies with the wants and needs of the CCP.
They have also abided by the UK's demand to disable E2EE.
Apple's resolve is quickly overcome by any threat to their revenue. They're one law away from handing over all of your data to the feds.
All it takes is a political sea change for E2EE to go away.
Apple already has to hand over a wealth of information when asked by the feds.