UK Bill Proposal to Give Police Backdoor Access to iPhones

It looks like what the FBI wasn’t able to do in the US, will be possible in the UK and France if the newly proposed bills are passed. The Sunday Times reports that, under a law currently being considered by the UK Parliament, Internet service providers and tech giants like Apple would have to build secret security flaws into smartphones, tablets and computers, allowing law enforcement agencies to access the devices.

In the Code of Practice on Equipment Interference (EQ) bill currently being drafted, there is a section stating that communication service providers may be required to “’provide a technical capability to give effect to interception, equipment interference, bulk acquisition warrants or communications data acquisition’ (via the Daily Mail).

The proposed bill comes after France has moved into the same direction, as reported earlier this month. Apple and the FBI are continuing their legal battle in the US over encryption, but on the “old continent” there will be apparently be bills that require backdoor technology built into the devices sold by Apple and other tech giants.

In France for example, Apple was accused of slowing down an investigation related to the Paris attacks, as the company didn’t do enough to help French security services to access the seized iPhones.