Apple Threatens To Pull FaceTime And iMessage From The U.K.

Apple is reportedly threatening to shut down iMessage and FaceTime in the U.K. in response to plans to increase government surveillance powers.

Under planned changes to the Investigatory Powers Act 2016, messaging services will be required to gain approval for security features and be prepared to disable them when ordered to do so, immediately, and without informing the public. Currently, they are allowed to wait until after a review of the request has been carried out and any appeal has been heard.

While end-to-end encryption isn’t specifically criminalized, companies will be required to make it possible to scan for child sexual abuse material when required, leading to serious concerns over user privacy and security.

“Decisions about lawful access to data in the interests of national security or tackling serious crime should be taken by democratically accountable Secretaries of State within a statutory framework approved by parliament, and overseen by Judges and by parliament,” says home secretary Suella Braverman.

“This decision-making ability must not be curtailed for commercial reasons with consequent detrimental impact on citizens.”

However, Apple has submitted an excoriating statement to the government slamming the plans, focusing particularly on the requirement for pre-clearance, the extraterritoriality of the bill and the ability to block, in secret, the release of a product or service before a notice has been reviewed by independent oversight bodies.

“The new powers the Home Office seeks—expanded authority to regulate foreign companies and the ability to pre-screen and block innovative security technologies—could dramatically disrupt the global market for security technologies, putting users in the U.K. and around the world at greater risk,” it says.

“By requiring non-U.K. technology companies to maintain the ability to produce unencrypted data for all of their users worldwide—without notifying their users of that ability—the IPA would include a worldwide gag order.”

And, pointedly, it adds: “That is deeply problematic, especially considering that the legal systems of most nations treat free speech as a fundamental individual right.”

The company has told the BBC that if the plans go ahead, it could pull its encrypted messaging services from the U.K. altogether.

As the U.K. lurches towards greater and greater internet surveillance, through the Online Safety Bill as well as the IPA, a number of other companies have warned that they could reduce or remove services in the country.

WhatsApp and Signal have indicated that they will withdraw their messaging services rather than weaken encryption, while Wikipedia has said it, too, would exit the U.K. if forced to censor articles and carry out age verification.

Apple has already made its objections to the Online Safety Bill clear—and these latest threats only up the stakes even further. With nearly 20 million iPhone users in the U.K.—40% of the total number of smartphones—the company’s services are even more high profile than those from other objectors.

The government points out that its proposals are just that, and that no decision will be made until the eight-week consultation period has closed.

It may well be facing a choice between an embarrassing climb-down and a public furious at losing what’s regarded as a basic service, and alerted to the U.K.’s increasing lack of security and privacy.