Security vs Privacy; Apple (en andere grote spelers) vs de FBI

quote:

Op dinsdag 22 maart 2016 22:29 schreef Papierversnipperaar het volgende:

[..]

[..]

quote:

Israeli firm helping FBI to open encrypted iPhone: report | Reuters

TEL AVIV Israel's Cellebrite, a provider of mobile forensic software, is helping the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation's attempt to unlock an iPhone used by one of the San Bernardino, California shooters, the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper reported on Wednesday.

If Cellebrite succeeds, then the FBI will no longer need the help of Apple Inc (AAPL.O), the Israeli daily said, citing unnamed industry sources.

Cellebrite officials declined to comment on the matter.

Apple is engaged in a legal battle with the U.S. Justice Department over a judge's order that it write new software to disable passcode protection on the iPhone used by the shooter.

The two sides were set to face off in court on Tuesday, but on Monday a federal judge agreed to the government's request to postpone the hearing after U.S. prosecutors said a "third party" had presented a possible method for opening an encrypted iPhone.

The development could bring an abrupt end to the high-stakes legal showdown which has become a lightning rod for a broader debate on data privacy in the United States.

Cellebrite, a subsidiary of Japan's Sun Corp (6736.T), has its revenue split between two businesses: a forensics system used by law enforcement, military and intelligence that retrieves data hidden inside mobile devices and technology for mobile retailers.

(Reporting by Tova Cohen; Editing by Elaine Hardcastle)


Bron: www.reuters.com

quote:

American Tech Giants Face Fight in Europe Over Encrypted Data

ROME — Silicon Valley’s battle over encryption is heading to Europe.

In the United States, the F.B.I.’s demands that Apple help “unlock” an iPhone used by a mass killer in California opened a heated debate on privacy. After recent attacks on the Continent, like the bombings in Brussels last week and the wave of violence in Paris last November, governments across the European Union are increasingly pushing for greater access to people’s digital lives.

This week, French lawmakers are expected to debate proposals to toughen laws, giving intelligence services greater power to get access to personal data.

The battle has pitted Europe’s fears about the potential for further attacks against concerns from Apple and other American technology giants like Google and Facebook that weakening encryption technologies may create so-called back doors to people’s digital information that could be misused by European law enforcement officials, or even intelligence agencies of unfriendly countries.

The recent attacks have pushed many Europeans to favor greater powers for law enforcement over privacy., But opponents say such measures should not undermine the region’s tough data protection rules that enshrine privacy on par with other rights like freedom of expression.

This balance between national security and privacy has put major countries in the region on opposite sides of the debate, with Germany and the Netherlands dismissing new encryption laws being considered by Britain and France.

“Fundamental rights are just that, fundamental,” said Nico van Eijk, a data protection expert at the University of Amsterdam. “Of course, there are exceptions for national security reasons. But governments have to be pragmatic.”

That pragmatism has led to a series of new proposals across Europe that, if approved, would give national intelligence agencies renewed powers to compel the likes of Apple, Google and Facebook to hand over encrypted information.
Continue reading the main story
The Apple-F.B.I. Case

F.B.I. Clash With Apple Loosed a Torrent of Possible Ways to Hack an iPhone
MAR 23
Apple Policy on Bugs May Explain Why Hackers Would Help F.B.I.
MAR 22
Apple May Be Willing to Risk Contempt Charge
MAR 21
Apple and Justice Dept. Prepare to Face Off in Court
MAR 21
Apple vs. the F.B.I.: How the Case Could Play Out
MAR 20

See More »
Related Coverage

F.B.I. Clash With Apple Loosed a Torrent of Possible Ways to Hack an iPhone MARCH 23, 2016
Apple Policy on Bugs May Explain Why Hackers Would Help F.B.I. MARCH 22, 2016
U.S. Says It May Not Need Apple’s Help to Unlock iPhone MARCH 21, 2016
Opinion Letters
Privacy and the iPhone MARCH 19, 2016
Explaining Apple’s Fight With the F.B.I. FEB. 17, 2016

In Britain, lawmakers are completing legislation that could force tech companies to bypass encryption protections in the name of national security. The law — called a “Snooper’s Charter” by opponents — may compel companies to aid the country’s law enforcement agencies by hacking people’s smartphones and computers, among other powers.

And on Tuesday, French politicians will debate proposals to update the country’s antiterrorism laws that may hand tech executives prison sentences of up to five years, as well as fines to their companies of around $390,000, if they refuse to provide encrypted information to the country’s investigators.

Amendments to the French law — itself a response to the attacks in November — may still pass without the encryption proposals, which are opposed by France’s left-wing government.

But politicians and industry executives say Apple’fight with the F.B.I. has focused a spotlight on how companies’ efforts to protect users’ messages and other data have made it increasingly difficult for European intelligence agencies to obtain such information.

“When we’re able to recover a cellphone, but authorities have no way of accessing its data, it obviously cripples the work of our surveillance agencies,” said Philippe Goujon, a French politician behind the recent encryption proposals.

“Sure, this could have repercussions internationally,” he added. “But there are other countries in the world that have similar legislation.”

Europe’s attempts to get access to encrypted data have not gone unchallenged by Apple.

Timothy D. Cook, Apple’s chief executive, has, for instance, met with a string of European politicians, including France’s prime minister, Manuel Valls, and Britain’s home secretary, Theresa May, in recent months to lobby for tough encryption technology.

And to show that the company is trying to be cooperative, Apple’s executives have also provided unencrypted information, including so-called metadata on people’s phone calls and GPS coordinates, as part of terrorism investigations in Europe, according to a person with knowledge of the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly.

Such efforts, in part, have paid off with some European governments that remain skeptical of plans to weaken companies’ encryption technology in the name of national security.

Germany, which has some of the world’s toughest privacy rules, has balked at the proposals being considered by Britain and France, while the Dutch government published an open letter this year expressly stating its opposition to back doors in encryption services provided by the likes of Apple.

Such loopholes, the Dutch government said, would “also make encrypted files vulnerable to criminals, terrorists and foreign intelligence services.”

As pressure in parts of Europe mounts over access to encrypted data, industry watchers say attention is expected to focus on Britain — a top international market for most American tech companies — where expanded powers for the country’s intelligence services are likely to come into force by the end of the year. The legislation is the brainchild of the ruling Conservative Party, which has a sufficient parliamentary majority to enact the regulatory changes.

Under the proposals, the Investigatory Powers Bill would force Internet and telecommunications companies to hold records of websites visited by people in Britain over the last 12 months. It also would provide the country’s intelligence agencies with a legal mandate for the bulk collection of large quantities of data, while allowing them to hack individual devices under certain situations.

Ms. May, Britain’s home secretary, told lawmakers this year that such powers were required to defend the country’s security. She added that the legislation offered sufficient transparency and oversight about how British spies conducted their activities to calm people’s privacy concerns.

But for Apple and other Silicon Valley companies, the proposed legislation also includes new powers that can permit the British government to demand that companies remove encryption protections where “reasonably practicable” to gain access to digital communications.

The British government stresses that such rules would not undermine companies’ services because they may not apply to so-called end-to-end encryption, a technology used by the likes of Apple’s iMessage and FaceTime services, as well as Facebook’s WhatsApp Internet messenger.

But in a series of appeals to the British Parliament, several American tech giants, including Microsoft, Twitter and Yahoo, have complained the proposals could force them to create backdoor access for the country’s spies, or face falling afoul of the new national security rules.

“A key left under the doormat would not just be there for the good guys,” Apple wrote in its recent evidence to British lawmakers. “The bad guys would find it, too.”

Such concerns, say security experts, could be compounded if other national governments — either in Europe or farther afield — followed Britain’s lead by passing similar legislation.

“If these encryption plans go through, then who’s to stop France or other countries asking for the same thing?” said Ross Anderson, a professor of security engineering at the University of Cambridge who co-wrote a paper with other experts last year that criticized American and British governments’ plans to weaken encryption. “When you give one country backdoor access, where do you stop?”

quote:

EFF Sues for Secret Court Orders Requiring Tech Companies to Decrypt Users’ Communications

quote:

San Francisco—The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) filed a Freedom of Information (FOIA) lawsuit today against the Justice Department to shed light on whether the government has ever used secret court orders to force technology companies to decrypt their customers’ private communications, a practice that could undermine the safety and security of devices used by millions of people.

The lawsuit argues that the DOJ must disclose if the government has ever sought or obtained an order from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) requiring third parties—like Apple or Google—to provide technical assistance to carry out surveillance.

The suit separately alleges that the agency has failed to turn over other significant FISC opinions that must be declassified as part of surveillance reforms that Congress enacted with the USA FREEDOM Act.

EFF filed its FOIA requests in October and March amid increasing government pressure on technology companies to provide access to customers’ devices and encrypted communications for investigations. Although the FBI has sought orders from public federal courts to create a backdoor to an iPhone, it is unclear to what extent the government has sought or obtained similar orders from the FISC. The FISC operates mostly in secret and grants nearly every government surveillance request it receives.

The FBI’s controversial attempt to force Apple to build a special backdoor to an iPhone after the San Bernardino attacks underscored EFF’s concerns that the government is threatening the security of millions of people who use these devices daily. Many citizens, technologists and companies expressed similar outrage and concern over the FBI’s actions.

Given the public concern regarding government efforts to force private companies to make their customers less secure, EFF wants to know whether similar efforts are happening in secret before the FISC. There is good reason to think so. News outlets have reported that the government has sought FISC orders and opinions requiring companies to turn over source code so that federal agents can find and exploit security vulnerabilities for surveillance purposes.

Whether done in public or in secret, forcing companies to weaken or break encryption or create backdoors to devices undermines the safety and security of millions of people whose laptops and smartphones contain deeply personal, private information, said EFF Senior Staff Attorney Nate Cardozo.

“If the government is obtaining FISC orders to force a company to build backdoors or decrypt their users’ communications, the public has a right to know about those secret demands to compromise people’s phones and computers,” said Cardozo. “The government should not be able to conscript private companies into weakening the security of these devices, particularly via secret court orders.”

In addition to concerns about secret orders for technical assistance, the lawsuit is also necessary to force the government to comply with the USA FREEDOM Act, said EFF Senior Staff Attorney Mark Rumold. Transparency provisions of the law require FISC decisions that contain significant or novel legal interpretations to be declassified and made public. However, the government has argued that USA FREEDOM only applies to significant FISC decisions written after the law was passed.

“Even setting aside the existence of technical assistance orders, there’s no question that other, significant FISC opinions remain hidden from the public. The government’s narrow interpretation of its transparency obligations under USA FREEDOM is inconsistent with the language of the statute and Congress’ intent,’’ said Rumold. “Congress wanted to bring an end to secret surveillance law, so it required that all significant FISC opinions be declassified and released. Our lawsuit seeks to hold DOJ accountable to the law.”

For the full complaint:
https://www.eff.org/document/fisc-foia-complaint