A bill proposed in the US Senate would make it a legal requirement for Apple to create backdoors in iPhones. It would be illegal for Apple and other tech giants to use strong encryption for either devices or cloud services.
Specifically, under the bill, a device manufacturer that sold more than 1,000,000 electronic devices in the United States in 2016 and thereafter or that received a direction regarding assistance opportunities under section 3513 must provide the assistance described in subsection (b)(2) for each consumer electronic device that it designs, manufactures, or assembles and intends for sale or distribution in the United States.
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Subsection (b)(2) includes:
“…Decrypting or decoding information on the electronic device or remotely stored electronic assets that allows the information to be retrieved or otherwise provided in an intelligible form, unless the independent actions of an unrelated entity make it technically impossible…”
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It’s worth noting that Apple will no longer be able to claim that it can’t access locked iPhones, as per the aforementioned, if it is required by law. The only exception is if it is technically impossible due to the “independent actions of an unrelated entity.” Thus, Apple will no longer be able to deny access to customers’ phones.
Additionally, Apple is able to deliver iCloud backups, as they do not use end-to-end encryption. On the other hand, many have speculated that the company's approach to CSAM scanning may be a precursor to end-to-end encryption of iCloud backups in order to enhance customer privacy.
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If the bill passes, it would force Apple to have access to customer data on both the devices it sells and the cloud services it operates.
It is noteworthy that the bill begins by saying that when a manufacturer is presented with a search warrant, it must comply.
However, Apple, as it claims, currently has no way to unlock an iPhone, and that's where this bill wants to change. In short, any manufacturer that sells more than a million devices in the US would be required by law to install a backdoor on all of its devices.
Update: The bill, which was first proposed last year, is very likely not to be passed.
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With information from 9to5mac.com
