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Apple Is Building An Online Portal For Police To Make Data Requests (cnet.com)

In a letter last Tuesday to Rhode Island Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, Apple said it is working on an online portal for law enforcement officials to submit and track requests for data and obtain responses from the company. Apple also said it's "creating a dedicated team to help train law enforcement officials around the world in digital forensics," reports CNET. From the report: The letter, seen by CNET, addresses recommendations made in a report issued earlier this year by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) regarding cybersecurity and the "digital evidence needs" of law enforcement agencies. Apple said in the letter that it's eager to adopt the report's recommendations, including making upgrades to its law enforcement training program. This includes developing an online training module for police that mirrors Apple's current in-person training, according to the letter and to details on the company's website.

"This will assist Apple in training a larger number of law enforcement agencies and officers globally, and ensure that our company's information and guidance can be updated to reflect the rapidly changing data landscape," the site says. Apple also reiterated in the letter that it's "committed to protecting the security and privacy of our users" and that company initiatives and "the work we do to assist investigations uphold this fundamental commitment."

4 of 75 comments (clear)

  1. Catching up with the times by Tutter · · Score: 3, Informative

    Most other SNPs have web portals for LE requests, this is to streamline it for Apple and for LE. The web portal doesn't give the requester the information, so no fear there, it serves a different purpose. In order to get the user data, judicial authorization still has to be provided and once they have that, it will be forwarded to the requesting Agency / Officer.
    The potential to abuse X is persistent - it always exists. The risks to protect the public and aid LE with investigations outweighs any privacy concern... ultimately, it's pretty simple - if you didn't do anything, LE won't bother with your data as they have enough on the go with actual investigations. If you did do something and they have judicial authorization, then they should get to your data.

  2. Re:My goodness, what could possible go wrong? by JaredOfEuropa · · Score: 4, Informative

    Why scare people? Because it has happened before. Cops looking up details of celebrities because they are bored, or details on their ex' new boyfriend to see if there's anything that can ruin that relationship, or in case of bent cops: details on cases having to do with their criminal friends. Some of these cops have been caught because there was good (fine grained) authorisation mechanism in place, a detailed audit trail, and alerts on suspicious activities. But a lot of these systems don't have any of that. So: we scare people so they demand that sufficient security and monitoring is put in place.

    --
    If construction was anything like programming, an incorrectly fitted lock would bring down the entire building...
  3. Re:I thought by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    By default your phone backs up to iCloud. This is encrypted while "in-flight" but not encrypted on Apple's servers. All your text messages, voice mails, and phone records are included in this "backup." It's all available to the police immediately via a simple request. All searches you make in Apple Maps and all directions you take are also available from Apple.

    Apple's "privacy stance" is all a joke. They claim that the phone is super-secure - and then use its always-on connectivity to ensure that it doesn't matter and everything is recorded in real-time anyway.

    Try turning on airplane mode for a bit and then turn it off and watch as it generates a burst of network activity as it resyncs the Apple servers with what you've been doing while disconnected. It's pretty blatant.

  4. Re:My goodness, what could possible go wrong? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    He violated the rights of inmates who were already in prison, leaving them in tents with temperatures up to 145F, feeding them only twice a day, fed them discarded food that couldn't be sold,

    He closed 75% of sex crimes without proper investigation. The rapes of 13 and 14 year old girls were closed because the suspects didn't want to be questioned.

    Another 13 year old who was repeatedly raped by her uncle had her case closed for four years after the officers lied about the rape kit results (semen was found, they told the parents it wasn't) and refused to get a blood sample that the lab asked for. After they were forced to re-open the case and get the blood sample, it was a match. The girl endured four more years of sexual assault that could have been prevented and the county settled that lawsuit for $3.5 million.

    When given $600k to add more detectives to investigate child abuse, none were added and they couldn't explain where the money went.

    He targeted political opponents and journalists repeatedly, filing false charges against them that were all either rejected by judges or dropped before the judges could reject them. This cost the county millions more in settlements.

    He was found to have violated election law, but got away with just a $150k fine which his campaign paid.

    He misspent over $100 million in a 5 year period, redirecting funds intended for detention facilities to pay for things like fishing trips and trips to Disneyland, stays at luxury hotels, a staff party at a local amusement park, etc.

    And there are many, many more examples of Sherrif Joe being an absolute piece of shit.

    And somehow that doesn't make him crooked by your standards? What does he have to do to seem croocked? Fuck a dead baby and eat its heart in front of you?