By Allan. Lengel
Apple has announced it will offer fully encrypted backups of photos, chat histories and other sensitive user data in its cloud storage system, a move law enforcement finds deeply concerning, the Washington Post reports.
The move will also protect users from most hackers and spies.
The Post notes that most iPhone and Mac computer owners back up their iMessages, photos and other content to Apple’s iCloud, where the company can retrieve it for locked-out users or authorities.
The FBI said last week it was “deeply concerned with the threat end-to-end and user-only-access encryption pose,” the Post reports.
“This hinders our ability to protect the American people from criminal acts ranging from cyber-attacks and violence against children to drug trafficking, organized crime and terrorism,” the bureau said in an emailed statement to the Post. “In this age of cybersecurity and demands for ‘security by design,’ the FBI and law enforcement partners need ‘lawful access by design.’”
