A hot potato: Google says that, unlike rival Apple, it has not received a question from the British government to build a back door in its coded services. The technology giant had refused to answer an American senator’s question about this issue, but since then it has confirmed that it is not subject to a similar order as Apple.
In one letter Tulsi Gabbard, Senator Ron Wyden, who is a member of the Senate Committee, wrote to the director of National Intelligence, about the “reported secret surveillance requirements” of the UK.
Wyden added that recipients of the notification of technical capacities of the UK are forbidden to discuss them, which means that American companies cannot confirm whether they have received one or that they meet the order.
Meta, who offers end-to-end coding in WhatsApp and optionally in Messenger, did an unambiguous denial to the Wyden office when he was asked if it had been ordered from the British government to find out its encrypted services.
Google also offers end-to-end coding in various of its products, including backups from Android devices. When the Wyden office asked the same question, the company did not answer and only stated that if it had received a notification of technical capacities, it would be forbidden to reveal that fact.
Such a response naturally suggests that Google has received the notification, but should not say that. However, the company has since confirmed that this is not the case. Spokesperson Karl Ryan told Techcrunch In a statement: “We have never built a mechanism or ‘back door’ to bypass end-to-end coding in our products. If we say that a product is coded, it is.”
When the publication was explicitly asked whether it was subject to a British supervisory order, Ryan said: “We have not received any notification of technical possibilities.”
After it had received the question at the beginning of the year, Apple decided that, instead of running the risk, the security of its users worldwide was the best way of acting to remove his Advanced Data Protection (ADP) option for new British users. Existing ADP users had to disable the function manually during a respite period.
The US government has pushed back from the start against the VK’s demands on Apple. It is said that the British government had violated the Data Convention of the Cloud ACT early this year. The law states that the UK cannot issue any requirements for data from American citizens, nationals or legal permanent inhabitants, nor can the data require of persons in the United States.
Last week the news brought that the UK tries to withdraw from its demands on Apple, who are becoming a legal fight, in the midst of fears that it could cause a recoil by Washington. Vice -President JD Vance is one of the various politicians who put pressure on the British government to drop the case.
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