Paul Strasburger

🚨We’re WINNING: UK Court REJECTS Home Office bid to hear Apple’s challenge against Government orders to break encryption in secret Together with @OpenRightsGroup & @IndexCensorship we called on the court to open Apple’s closed appeal against the Home Office’s encryption-breaching order to the public. The UK court today rejecting appeals for more secrecy from the Home Office is a win for free speech and privacy in the UK and internationally. "This judgment is a very welcome step in the right direction, effectively chipping away at the pervasive climate of secrecy surrounding the Investigatory Powers Tribunal's consideration of the Apple case. The Home Office's order to break encryption represents a massive attack on the privacy rights of millions of British Apple users, which is a matter of significant public interest and must not be considered behind closed doors. We are heartened that the Tribunal responded to the important legal arguments we made on the basis of open justice and that our submission calling for proceedings to be opened to the public has made a difference. We will keep campaigning to protect privacy rights in the face of these and other threats to encryption — as once it is broken for anyone, it is broken for everyone." – Rebecca Vincent, Interim Director | @rebecca_vincent

🚨BREAKING🚨 Apple is removing its most robust data protection tool from UK users. “This decision by Apple is the regrettable consequence of the Home Office’s outrageous order attempting to force Apple to breach encryption. As a result, from today Apple’s UK customers are less safe and secure than they were yesterday – and this will quickly prove to have much wider implications for internet users in the UK. “No matter how this is framed, there is simply no such thing as a “back door” that can be limited only to criminals or that can be kept safe from hackers or foreign adversaries. Once encryption is broken for anyone, it’s broken for everyone, and as we have cautioned: this will not stop with Apple. “We once again call on the Home Office to immediately rescind this draconian order and cease attempts to break encryption before the privacy rights of millions are eroded and the UK further ostracises itself from other democracies around the world” - @rebecca_vincent

🚨Breaking: UK Government orders Apple to let them spy on users' encrypted messages "We are extremely troubled by reports that the UK government has ordered Apple to create a backdoor that would effectively break encryption for millions of users - an unprecedented attack on privacy rights that has no place in any democracy. Big Brother Watch has been ringing alarm bells about the possibility of precisely this scenario since the adoption of the Investigatory Powers Bill in 2016. We all want the government to be able to effectively tackle crime and terrorism, but breaking encryption will not make us safer. Instead it will erode the fundamental rights and civil liberties of the entire population - and it will not stop with Apple. We urge the UK government to immediately rescind this draconian order and cease attempts to employ mass surveillance in lieu of the targeted powers already at their disposal." - Rebecca Vincent, Interim Director | @rebecca_vincent