Apple unveiled new tools on Wednesday to better protect its users’ personal and professional information from both hackers and law enforcement, an announcement that may upset governments concerned that law enforcement could access this data.
Customers of its iCloud storage service will soon be able to choose “advanced data protection” mode, which encrypts nine additional types of content, including photos. The iPhone maker recalled that 14 categories were already encrypted, such as passwords and health information.
iCloud users will be able to “protect the vast majority of their most sensitive data with end-to-end encryption so it can only be decrypted on their trusted devices,” said Ivan Krstic, Apple’s head of security systems, quoted in a press release. .
end-to-end encryption
The Californian tech giant already uses end-to-end encryption in its iMessage, as well as WhatsApp (Meta) and other communication apps. This system allows messages to be codified, and only the sender and the recipient have the “keys” to read them.
But many governments take a dim view of democratizing these sophisticated methods. In the United States and Europe, “back doors”, that is, flaws in this software, are half lightly called for, in the name of the fight against terrorism or pedophilia, in particular.
But Apple has built its reputation in part on respecting the privacy of its customers. “Our commitment to providing the world’s best data security is unwavering,” said Craig Federighi, group vice president.
Source: BFM TV
