TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 2016
A1 5
WORLD
Boris Johnson, one of Britain’s most popular politicians, announced on Sunday he supported leaving the bloc, dealing a blow to Cameron who struck a deal to reform Britain’s relations with the EU last week.
Apple wants panel on encryption Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook also sent a letter to employees, making clear the company’s hardline stance addresses broader issues, not just the phone in question
SAN FRANCISCO: Apple Inc on Monday urged the creation of a government panel on encryption to help resolve a standoff over national security and data privacy that began last week after the technology company refused a US government demand to unlock an iPhone used in a mass shooting in California in December. It was the latest move in a public and symbolic showdown between the US government and technology companies, both of which are keen to set a precedent over how far US investigators can dictate how tech firms handle their customers’ data.
DATA SECURITY AT STAKE: This file photo taken on February 17,
2016 shows people walking outside the Apple store on the Fifth Avenue in New York – AFP/Files
“Apple would gladly participate in such an effort,” the company wrote in a post on its website entitled “Answers to your questions about Apple and security”. The idea of setting up a commission - which may be a prelude to
FA C I N G R E S I S TA N C E
Cameron tries to sell EU deal after Boris backs Brexit LONDON: Prime Minister David Cameron will try to sell his case for Britain remaining in the European Union to parliament on Monday, facing hostility from his own lawmakers and an exit campaign energised by the backing of London Mayor Boris Johnson. Johnson, one of Britain’s most popular politicians, announced on Sunday he supported leaving the bloc, dealing a blow to Cameron who struck a deal to reform Britain’s relations with the EU last week. The mayor’s announcement, widely regarded as increasing the chance of a British EU exit, saw sterling on course for its biggest one-day loss against the dollar in 11 months while British bond prices also fell. “I’m delighted that he’s come out for leaving the European Union,” former finance minister and chairman of the Vote Leave campaign Nigel Lawson told BBC radio. “He is a superb campaigner so he’s a great asset.” While Cameron’s most senior Cabinet colleagues have stuck with him, five others have said they would campaign for a British exit, highlighting the deep divide in Cameron’s Conservative Party over Europe, dating back to the days of Margaret Thatcher in the 1980s. However, Johnson’s intervention is seen as significant, giving the “out” campaign a de facto figure head. Betting odds of a British exit rose to a 33 per cent chance from about 29 per cent after his announcement, according to bookmakers. Johnson, 51, a political showman whose eccentric persona masks a fierce ambition to succeed Cameron, said on Sunday he did not want to go against Cameron but believed the EU project was in danger of getting out of democratic control. On Monday, Johnson declined to elaborate further, saying he was focusing on his last budget as London mayor, a post he has held since 2008. “There will be plenty of time to talk about Europe and the great future that Britain can have outside the European Union in the next few weeks,” Johnson, who is also a Conservative member of parliament, told reporters. Sterling was on course for its biggest one day loss in 11 months, falling to $1.4175 after the start of European trade, down 1.5 per cent on the day. The pound also fell against the euro on concern that Britain would quit the bloc it joined in 1973. The cost of hedging against sharp weakness in the sterling exchange rate shot up to its highest in more than four years. The six-month implied volatility in sterling/dollar -- a gauge of how sharp investors believe currency moves will be
A BLOW: Prime Minister David
Cameron. – Reuters SCAN THIS QR CODE TO INSTANTLY VISIT
VIDEO
W W W.T I M E S O F O M A N .C O M
-- rose to 12.2 per cent, its highest since late 2011, according to Reuters charts. The contract captures the date of the referendum, scheduled for June 23. What role Johnson will play in the leave campaign is not known as he said he would not take part in debates against members of his own party. That has led some commentators to question whether his stance is a calculated gamble designed to attract widespread eurosceptic support among Conservatives in a future leadership bid to succeed Cameron, who has said he will step down before the next election in 2020. Johnson’s supporters dismissed such suggestions, describing the decision to oppose the prime minister as a matter of principle. “To say that this is a careerist sort of move would be a total travesty,” his father Stanley, a former Conservative member of the European Parliament, told BBC radio. “I can’t think of any more career ending move than to do what he did yesterday.” A British exit from the EU would rock the Union — already shaken by differences over migration and the future of the euro zone — by ripping away its second-largest economy, one of its top two military powers and by far its richest financial centre. Pro-Europeans, including former prime ministers Tony Blair and John Major, have warned that an exit could also trigger the break-up of the United Kingdom by prompting another Scottish independence vote. A poll published before Johnson’s move showed the “in” campaign with a lead of 15 percentage points. However, polls have fluctuated widely and surveys suggest about a fifth of voters are undecided. A third of voters said Johnson would be important in helping them decide which way to vote, an Ipsos MORI poll showed. — Reuters
a broader legislative solution - is not new, although a political resolution of the data privacy and encryption debate has proven elusive for many years. A digital security commission comprising technology, business
and law enforcement experts has been proposed by Democratic Senator Mark Warner and Republican Representative Michael McCaul, who chairs the House Homeland Security Committee, to help break the impasse over encryption. The bipartisan pair is scheduled to unveil details of legislation that would create a panel at a Washington event on Wednesday. Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook also sent a letter to employees Monday morning, making clear the company’s hardline stance addresses broader issues, not just the phone in question. “This case is about much more than a single phone or a single investigation, so when we received the government’s order we knew we had to speak out,” Cook said in the email to employees, seen by Reuters. “At stake is the data security of hundreds of millions of law-abiding people, and setting a dangerous precedent that threatens everyone’s civil liberties.” The US Federal Bureau of Investigation is seeking the company’s help to access Syed Rizwan Farook’s phone by disabling some of its passcode protections, which the government says are “non-encryption barriers.” Farook and Tashfeen Malik attacked a holiday party in San Bernardino, California on December 2, killing 14 people and injuring 22. The pair were killed later in a shootout with police.
Apple has argued that while it is technically possible to bypass the security features of the iPhone by building a new operating system, such a move would set a dangerous precedent. New legal precedent FBI Director James Comey published an article on the national security legal blog Lawfare late on Sunday, arguing the case was not about setting a new legal precedent but “victims and justice”. “Fourteen people were slaughtered and many more had their lives and bodies ruined,” Comey wrote. “We owe them a thorough and professional investigation under law. That’s what this is.” Apple said it has not unlocked iPhones for law enforcement in the past but has extracted data from an iPhone running older operating systems under a “lawful court order”. The US Department of Justice filed a motion on Friday seeking to compel Apple to comply with a judge’s order to unlock Farook’s iPhone, though it admitted the move was “not legally necessary” since Apple had not yet responded to the initial order. “We’ve handed over all the data we have, including a backup of the iPhone in question,” Apple said in its post. “But now they have asked us for information we simply do not have.” In its post, Apple added that “the best way forward would be for the
government to withdraw its demands” to unlock the phone. The company could not be immediately reached for further comment. The case has revived interest on Capitol Hill over how to deal legislatively with what law enforcement calls “going dark” where tight digital security locks them out of accessing the data of criminal suspects. But legislating how a tech company should safeguard its customer data has long proven politically unviable. The White House backed down from a push for legislation last year amid stiff opposition from tech firms and privacy advocates. Bipartisan leaders of the US House Energy and Commerce Committee late Friday invited Apple’s Cook and FBI Director James Comey to testify at an upcoming hearing on encryption, though no date was set. Senators Richard Burr and Dianne Feinstein, the top Republican and Democrat of the Senate Intelligence Committee respectively, have long said they intend to introduce legislation that would force a company to be able to grant authorities access to a suspect’s data, though a bill has not yet materialised. Some victims of the attack will file a legal brief in support of the US government’s attempt to force open to unlock the phone, a lawyer representing the victims told Reuters on Sunday. — Reuters