Tim Cook, Apple’s chief executive, has flown into Britain ahead of the launch of the iPad Pro today. In an interview in The Telegraph yesterday morning, Cook took the opportunity not just to promote Apple’s new technology, but to raise concerns about the government’s new Investigatory Powers Draft Bill. Cook warns that the UK faces “dire consequences” if it passes the government’s bill.
If the recent James Bond film, Spectre, is anything to go by, global blanket surveillance is essential for spies to keep the public safe. “And all in the name of democracy,” taunts the villain ‘C’, the head of British intelligence, “whatever that is.” Despite the outcome of Spectre, 63 per cent of the public trust intelligence agencies to “behave responsibly” with surveillance measures – according to the YouGov poll for the Sunday Times in January. However, this draft bill is not just about access of your data by intelligence agencies.
Let me draw your attention to Part 4: Retention of Communications Data, Clause 71: Powers to require retention of certain data. This outlines how “communications service providers” (web and phone companies) will be required “to retain communications data… for a maximum period of 12 months” for access by police, security services and other public bodies.
If cybercrime and data breaches continue to become more frequent (in just one week last month TalkTalk, Marks & Spencer and British Gas dealt with similar data/cybercrime issues), companies will need to work harder at protecting their customers data. Protecting this data is essential for maintaining trust in your company and your brand. However, with government asking companies to retain more communications data, this could be an uphill battle for many companies. As Tim Cook told the Telegraph this morning: “Any back door is a back door for everyone. Everybody wants to crack down on terrorists. Everybody wants to be secure. The question is how. Opening a back door can have very dire consequences.”
However, Cook and other technology and communications companies should seek some comfort in the government’s slim majority. David Davis and the Runnymede Tories (Conservative MPs who firmly believe in civil liberties and are inspired by the Magna Carta), the Labour Party and the SNP are likely to make the draft bill’s passage through parliament very tricky.