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Tech

Apple's iOS 8 Security Fixes Are a Win for Privacy (and for PR)

It appears that Apple's new move is, at least in part, motivated as a stab at the company's rivals.
Image: Shutterstock

In its update to iOS 8, Apple cannot access devices running the operating system, and thus your wealth of personal data, even if compelled by law enforcement to do so.

On its website, under the title of "Our commitment to customer privacy doesn't stop because of a government information request," the company wrote that when a passcode is applied to the phone, it'll protect a whole lot more than before.

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"On devices running iOS 8, your personal data such as photos, messages (including attachments), email, contacts, call history, iTunes content, notes, and reminders is placed under the protection of your passcode," it says, adding the crucial part: "Apple cannot bypass your passcode and therefore cannot access this data. So it's not technically feasible for us to respond to government warrants for the extraction of this data from devices in their possession running iOS 8."

As recently as May, most iCloud data, and some from passcode-locked devices was accessible by law enforcement, as long as they presented a valid warrant to Apple requesting the information, reported Ars Technica. But now that is completely redundant, as even when presented with a request, Apple reportedly cannot get at the local data on the device.

In its latest transparency report, the release of which is a growing trend among the tech giants, Apple detailed how many Device Requests it received from law enforcement, and how many cases where data was provided. In the UK, it received 1,180, affecting 19,057 devices in the first half of this year, and providing agencies with data on 597 occassions; and in the US, it dealt with 4,132, which were concerned with 13,743 different Apple products, and handed over data 3,431 times.

With this new update, the number of those requests will presumably decline, since they won't provide any substantial information.

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But what if law enforcement do need to access the content of a device for a legitimate investigation? That is unclear, although Apple note that, "The vast majority of the requests Apple receives from law enforcement come from an agency working on behalf of a customer who has requested assistance locating a stolen device." It's worth remembering that just because they can't get to your emails via your iPhone, law enforcement do have other options, such as going to the email provider itself. This update just deals with accessing stuff that is either on the phone or accessible by it.

Regardless, it appears that Apple's new move is, at least in part, motivated as a stab at the company's rivals. Tim Cook, CEO, made a not so subtle dig at Google in an open letter.

"Our business model is very straightforward," he wrote. "We sell great products. We don't build a profile based on your email content or web browsing habits to sell to advertisers. We don't "monetize" the information you store on your iPhone or in iCloud. And we don't read your email or your messages to get information to market to you. Our software and services are designed to make our devices better. Plain and simple."

This use of privacy as a PR tool was also apparent in the government information requests details, making sure to highlight that "Unlike our competitors," Apple cannot circumvent your passcode for the benefit of law enforcement.

As well as fixing a load of security issues, the iOS 8 update also added an "Always-on VPN" feature, meaning that users can theoretically route all of their traffic through a proxy, preserving their privacy even further. Since iOS 7, devices now spoof MAC addresses, a unique code that can identify your device when moving between different internet connections.

But even if this is Apple continuing to commandeer the privacy bandwagon, hot on the heels of an iCloud security fiasco and of course the heightened sense of surveillance post-Snowden, it seems to be a great thing for consumers concerned about privacy.