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“Kier Starmer seemed to actually be doing OK” as someone who voted for his Labour I was immediately regretting it when they tried to force Apple to open a backd

“Kier Starmer seemed to actually be doing OK” as someone who voted for his Labour I was immediately regretting it when they tried to force Apple to open a backdoor and they are still trying! https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2025/10/uk-still-trying-backdoor-encryption-apple-users https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2025/10/uk-still-trying-backdo...

rcxdude 2mo ago
Privacy concerns have pretty broad opposition in the UK, unfortunately.
vkou 2mo ago
Your single-issue concerns are valid, but most people view an executive office's performance as a holistic union of their stances on issues.
- robbomacrae 2mo ago
  I’m not a single issue voter but the sheer incompetence of this particular decision is just too damning. It rightly caused friction with our 5 eyes partners. I would expect readers of hackernews to appreciate how dumb and impossible the request was.
  - louthy 2mo ago
    > "It rightly caused friction with our 5 eyes partners" That is such a weird take. "It rightly caused friction with Privacy International" might be a better position to take ;)
    - robbomacrae 2mo ago
      We were demanding the ability to spy on the citizens of our closest allies.
      - mrguyorama 2mo ago
        That is the entire point of FiveEyes. That is a feature. The US is technically not allowed to spy on it's own citizens. However, legally speaking, if the UK spies on your citizens and forwards whatever is interesting, it's not the US spying on it's own citizens. You say this like the FBI hasn't asked Apple for a back door before here in the US
        robbomacrae 2mo ago
        Then why (and I'm not saying I like the guy) did JD Vance come out so publicly against it? I mean you could certainly argue that was all theater and the UK was indeed doing the US's bidding but at some point you have to apply Occam's razor. The end result is Apple don't offer Advanced Data Protection (encryption) to UK users iCloud backups so its not like that "feature" has worked out.
        louthy 2mo ago
        > I mean you could certainly argue that was all theater It was all theatre.

rcxdude 2mo ago

Privacy concerns have pretty broad opposition in the UK, unfortunately.

vkou 2mo ago

Your single-issue concerns are valid, but most people view an executive office's performance as a holistic union of their stances on issues.

robbomacrae 2mo ago
I’m not a single issue voter but the sheer incompetence of this particular decision is just too damning. It rightly caused friction with our 5 eyes partners. I would expect readers of hackernews to appreciate how dumb and impossible the request was.
- louthy 2mo ago
  > "It rightly caused friction with our 5 eyes partners" That is such a weird take. "It rightly caused friction with Privacy International" might be a better position to take ;)
  - robbomacrae 2mo ago
    We were demanding the ability to spy on the citizens of our closest allies.
    - mrguyorama 2mo ago
      That is the entire point of FiveEyes. That is a feature. The US is technically not allowed to spy on it's own citizens. However, legally speaking, if the UK spies on your citizens and forwards whatever is interesting, it's not the US spying on it's own citizens. You say this like the FBI hasn't asked Apple for a back door before here in the US
      - robbomacrae 2mo ago
        Then why (and I'm not saying I like the guy) did JD Vance come out so publicly against it? I mean you could certainly argue that was all theater and the UK was indeed doing the US's bidding but at some point you have to apply Occam's razor. The end result is Apple don't offer Advanced Data Protection (encryption) to UK users iCloud backups so its not like that "feature" has worked out.
        louthy 2mo ago
        > I mean you could certainly argue that was all theater It was all theatre.