Apple could stop iPhone sales in the UK because of a new law that forbids companies to launch Internet services that fully encrypt data transmissions from terminals to their servers.
Such services are FaceTime si iMessage, they being integrated in everything iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch-s sold all over the planet, the Apple company encrypting all messages or video conversations when the data leaves the terminals and when it reaches the servers, so they cannot be intercepted.
The Investigatory Powers Bill is the name of the law and in its initial version it totally prohibited the encryption of data transmissions, so it would have outlawed POS payment systems or online shopping, so the restrictions were limited to end-to-end encryption.
This category includes the services offered by Apple, Google and many other companies, Great Britain wanting to be able to intercept any kind of communications in order to more easily control the people who use their communications networks, and Apple is faced with a difficult decision.
The legislation proposed by the UK government must first be voted on in the British parliament, and if it is enacted later, then Apple could be forced to stop selling iDevices in the UK or violate its user protection policy.
If Apple had the courage to stop sales of iDevices by directly blaming the government, then the law could have a very short "life", but my opinion is that in the end it will not be voted thanks to the lobby made by to various companies.
The problem is that if I'm wrong, then other countries will try to enact similar laws, so the whole of Europe could be monitored in this way, and the US will follow and then no communications will be private anymore, all data passing through the servers government agencies.
