Shulou(Shulou.com)11/24 Report--

CTOnews.com, July 20 (Xinhua)-- Apple has said it will stop providing services in the UK, including FaceTime and iMessage, if the British government changes the surveillance bill to require technology companies to make major security and privacy changes, BBC News reported.

CTOnews.com noted that the UK government is planning to update the Investigative Powers Act (IPA), which came into force in 2016, which allows the Home Office to force technology companies to disable security functions such as end-to-end encryption without informing the public. At present, this process involves an independent monitoring and review process, and technology companies can appeal before taking action. Since these requirements are carried out in secret, few people know how many requirements have been issued and complied with. IPA also allows Internet browsing records to be stored for 12 months and authorizes bulk collection of personal data. According to the proposed IPA update, the security feature must be disabled immediately.

The British government began an eight-week consultation process on the proposed amendment to the IPA, and Apple submitted a nine-page document condemning many of the changes. The company opposes the requirement to notify the Home Office before announcing changes in product safety features, and the requirement that non-UK companies must comply with changes that affect their global products, and the requirement that immediate action must be taken without a review or appeal process upon receipt of a notice from the Home Office to disable or block a feature.

Apple added that it will not make changes to security features specifically for one country so as not to weaken the products of all users. Some changes require software updates to be released and cannot be made in secret. The proposals "pose a serious and direct threat to data security and information privacy" and will affect people outside the UK.

Apple, WhatsApp and Signal also oppose a provision in the Cyber Security Act that allows communications regulators to require companies to have built-in technology to scan for child abuse materials in encrypted messaging apps and other services. Signal has threatened to leave the UK.

Welcome to subscribe "Shulou Technology Information " to get latest news, interesting things and hot topics in the IT industry, and controls the hottest and latest Internet news, technology news and IT industry trends.