Apple To Pull iMessage And FaceTime In The UK If Surveillance Bill Becomes Law

Apple Inc. AAPL has threatened to pull two of its core services, iMessage and FaceTime, in the UK if the proposed surveillance bill becomes law.

What Happened: Apple has consistently voiced its opposition to the UK government's proposed changes to Investigatory Powers Act (IPA) 2016, which would force technology companies to disable security features like end-to-end encryption without informing the consumers, according to a BBC report.

The report adds that Apple has submitted a nine-page-long document voicing its opposition to these proposals.

Apple also said that it cannot make these changes for one specific country, which would weaken security for all its users, and that it would "constitute a serious and direct threat to data security and information privacy" to non-UK users, too.

Apple has previously opposed the changes proposed in the surveillance bill.

"The Online Safety Bill poses a serious threat to this protection and could put UK citizens at greater risk. Apple urges the government to amend the bill to protect strong end-to-end encryption for the benefit of all," Apple said earlier.

"End-to-end encryption is a critical capability that protects the privacy of journalists, human rights activists, and diplomats," the company added.

Not Just Apple: Other privacy-focused messaging applications like Meta Platforms Inc.'s META WhatsApp, and Signal, have also voiced their opposition to the UK surveillance bill.

Both the messaging services have said they will quit the UK instead of complying with the changes.

"The idea that now is a moment to weaken security, I just think it’s very, very wrong," WhatsApp head Will Cathcart said, noting that cyber attacks are on the rise.

Image Credits – Shutterstock

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