Nick Clegg Campaigns In Maidstone And Carshalton (Photo : Getty Images)
Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales, in a tweet, says he hopes that Apple would stop selling iPhone in Britain if the UK Parliament would pass the UK Surveillance Law.
The Investigatory Powers Bill is slated to be unveiled on Wednesday, Nov. 4. It would likely mandate service providers to retain for up to one year data on customers' web surfing activities, reports ZDNet.
Under the proposed law, strong encryption would be banned. And since Apple is known for its security and goes to great length to protect user data, even defy requests from national security agencies, Wales believes that the Cupertino-based tech giant would soon need to decide if UK passes the law, reports Forbes.
It would not only be Apple but also other tech companies such as Facebook, Snapchat, WhatsApp and other service providers that encrypt user chats that would be affected by the law. Their alternative courses of action are to give in to the UK government and give it back door access, stop using encryption for messaging and denying Brits access to their products or services.
Forbes notes that Apple could survive without the UK market, but would be negatively affected if it loses the whole European market. Fortunately for Apple, the rest of Europe is not moving in the same direction as MPs in London.
But if Britain loses Apple, it would be the country's loss because of the number of Apple workers in the UK and the reliance of many Brits on Apple products for their daily tasks.
If Apple would take the first option and grant back door entry to the UK government, it needs to warn people outside the country who would use Apple's iMessage service that their chat with a Britain resident is not secure.
UK is pushing for the approval of the Surveillance Law in a bid to stop giving terrorists, criminals and child kidnappers "safe spaces to communicate," says British Prime Minister David Cameron. But Forbes believes these criminal elements would only go around the law by encrypting their data.
