"Edward Snowden never uses an iPhone, he has a regular phone," his lawyer told Russian news agency Ria Novosti Edward Snowden Anatoly Kutserena: "The iPhone has special software that can turn itself on without the user pressing any buttons, and collects information about him. Therefore, he refuses to use this phone for security reasons," Kutserena said, according to the Sputnik News, the English-language service of Ria Novosti. After the revelations made in 2013 by Snowden about the mass surveillance program by the American NSA and the British GCHQ, Apple and other internet giants, such as Google and Facebook, denied that they were actively cooperating. They even asked the US government to change the legislation on the collection of personal data.In addition, Apple has strengthened the security of its devices and even claims that the new version of its operating system, iOS 8, makes it impossible for law enforcement authorities to decrypt user data, even if they have a search warrant.
However, a recently declassified NSA document dating back to 2010 reveals that Britain's GCHQ was tracking iPhone users via unique identifier numbers (UDIDs). Apple abandoned the UDID system in 2013.
The documents Snowden has revealed so far do not contain any references to hidden spyware on iPhones, but there is still a lot of material that is believed to have not been published yet.
Snowden remains wanted in the US on a range of charges including espionage and theft of government documents. Since 2013 he has been living with his girlfriend in Moscow, who granted him asylum and a three-year residence permit.
Curated by: Vangelis Pratikakis
