Apple slams UK surveillance-bill proposals

Apple says it will remove services such as FaceTime and iMessage from the UK rather than weaken security if new proposals are made law and acted upon.

The government is seeking to update the Investigatory Powers Act (IPA) 2016.

It wants messaging services to clear security features with the Home Office before releasing them to customers.

The act lets the Home Office demand security features are disabled, without telling the public. Under the update, this would have to be immediate.

I wonder if Apple would actually follow through with something like this, or if they're only looking for a token concession so they can claim they're still in the clear and do nothing. Interesting, though, that when the Chinese government comes calling, Tim Cook drops his privacy is a fundamental human right" shtick real quick, but when the government of a western country comes calling, it's a lot of rah-rah.

A spine is clearly not very expensive.