UK iPhone warning as Apple threatens to remove FaceTime and iMessage from phones

20 July 2023 , 15:08

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iMessage and FaceTime could become a thing of the past for UK iPhone users

UK iPhone users could find they no longer have access to apps like iMessage and FaceTime in the future, if the government goes ahead with a controversial set of laws.

The proposed changes to the Investigatory Powers Act (2016) would give the Home Office the power to demand that key security features are changed and disabled on apps—without giving tech companies the chance to appeal.

Currently, the Home Office can demand changes to security protocols but tech companies have the right to a review and an independent oversight process. In the future that may not happen with changes being forced through with immediate effect.

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Apple has called the proposals 'a serious and direct threat to data security and information privacy' and said it would rather remove the services from the UK entirely than water down privacy protections for its users.

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This is on top of rule changes which would mean that encrypted messaging apps, including iMessage but also WhatsApp and Signal, would no longer guarantee user privacy as the government would be able to view personal data via a 'backdoor'.

iMessage uses end-to-end encryption to keep users' messages private

The California tech giant outlined its opposition to the act in a nine-page document this week, stating that it refuses to make changes to security features in one country because it would impact users outside the UK as well.

In the document, Apple disagrees with the need to inform the UK Home Office of changes to product security features before releasing them, as well as having to take immediate action to disable or block a feature on demand.

Like WhatsApp and Signal, Apple has also opposed a clause in the Online Safety Bill which would allow British regulators to force companies to scan messaging apps for child-abuse images.

Other messaging apps including WhatsApp and Signal have also voiced their opposition to the Online Safety Bill

The current Investigatory Powers Act (2016) already enables companies to store internet browser history records for up to a year as well as collect personal data in bulk.

But the new Bill would go further by allowing the government to essentially break end-to-end encryption.

This is the technology that ensures your messages are kept private between you and the person you're talking to, and is a critical security feature of apps like WhatsApp and iMessage.

In March, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak called the Online Safety Bill a 'necessary piece of legislation', as it would force social media companies to quickly remove illegal content or face fines or criminal prosecutions.

Ciaran Daly