The Eclectic Light Company:

The UK government, ignoring almost all the expert technical and legal advice put to it, is pressing ahead with its draconian Investigatory Powers Bill, due to undergo its second reading in the House of Commons in a week’s time. Let us suppose that this Bill, as currently before Parliament, were to come into force as it stands, becoming the Investigatory Powers Act 2016 (IPA).

And:

Under this, the law enforcement agencies will request the Secretary of State to serve a ‘technical capability notice’ on Apple under section 217, or (less likely) a ‘national security notice’ under section 216. The former would impose a legal obligation on Apple to provide the agencies with a backdoor to unlock locked iPhones, or to provide the agencies with a service to unlock locked iPhones.

Sound familiar?

Neither Apple nor any of its employees would be able to reveal “the existence or contents of the notice”, “except with the permission of the Secretary of State.”

And, finally:

Once Apple has been compelled in complete secrecy to provide a means to unlock iPhones in the UK, the UK security agencies would of course be happy to provide information of that to their US equivalents, who would then use that as a lever against Apple to force it to provide the same facilities in the US. Apple’s staunch defence would be shattered, and Pandora’s Box blown open.

This is an issue that affects all of us. Vigilance required.