“The Netherlands government issued a strong statement on Monday against weakening encryption for the purposes of law enforcement and intelligence agencies,” Patrick Howell O’Neill reports for The Daily Dot.
“The move comes as governments in the United Kingdom and China act to legally require companies to give them access to wide swaths of encrypted Internet traffic,” O’Neill reports. “U.S. lawmakers are also considering introducing similar legislation. The Dutch executive cabinet endorsed ‘the importance of strong encryption for Internet security to support the protection of privacy for citizens, companies, the government, and the entire Dutch economy,’ Ard van der Steur, the Dutch minister of security and justice, wrote in the statement.”
“Encryption scrambles data so that only those with the keys to unscramble it can access it,” O’Neill reports. “For example, Internet users utilize encryption whenever they access a website that has an HTTPS connection, which protects their Web traffic from interception, and Apple iOS devices and Google Android devices are encrypted by default when the user turns on the lock screen.”
MacDailyNews Take: To be clear: As usual, Apple did this first and, as usual, Google chimed in “me too” in order to not look bad, even though it’ll take them years to roll it out, if they ever do, while virtually every Apple iOS user already has it.
Android 5.0 and 5.0 only comprise 29.5% of Android devices. The percentage of those are encrypted by default is far less than even that due to significant performance issues. Android 6.0, with full-disk encryption on by default, is only running 0.5% of Android devices!
With 22% running iOS 8 and 70% running iOS 9, 92% of Apple’s iOS devices are encrypted.
In other words, reporters should stop equating Android with iOS in terms of encryption, among many other things. Android is a bad joke, as usual.
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: It’s nice to see that at least one government on earth gets it. That common sense is so elusive elsewhere is disheartening.
Visit the Apple-backed reformgovernmentsurveillance.com today.
SEE ALSO:
Apple makes a strong case for strong encryption; some politicians don’t know what they’re talking about – December 22, 2015
Hillary Clinton wants a ‘Manhattan Project’ to cure encryption; Snowden, Andreessen mock – December 21, 2015
Apple launches counteroffensive against UK’s proposed new surveillance law – December 21, 2015
Manhattan DA fires back after Apple CEO Cook defends stance on encryption – December 21, 2015
Apple CEO Tim Cook opposes government back door to encryption – December 21, 2015
Donald Trump: To stop ISIS recruiting, maybe we should be talking to Bill Gates about ‘closing that Internet up in some way’ – December 21, 2015
Hillary Clinton: We need to put Silicon Valley tech firms to ‘work at disrupting ISIS’ – December 7, 2015
Do not let the government snoops weaken encryption – November 4, 2015
Tim Cook attacks Google, U.S. federal government over right to privacy abuses – June 3, 2015
Apple CEO Tim Cook advocates privacy, says terrorists should be ‘eliminated’ – February 27, 2015
Apple’s Tim Cook warns of ‘dire consequences’ of sacrificing privacy for security – February 13, 2015
Apple’s iPhone encryption is a godsend, even if government snoops and cops hate it – October 8, 2014
Short-timer U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder blasts Apple for protecting users’ privacy against government overreach – September 30, 2014
FBI blasts Apple for protective users’ privacy by locking government, police out of iPhones and iPads – September 25, 2014
Apple thinks different about privacy – September 23, 2014
Apple CEO Tim Cook ups privacy to new level, takes direct swipe at Google – September 18, 2014
Apple will no longer unlock most iPhones, iPads for government, police – even with search warrants – September 18, 2014
Would you trade privacy for national security? Most Americans wouldn’t – August 6, 2014
Apple begins encrypting iCloud email sent between providers – July 15, 2014
Obama administration demands master encryption keys from firms in order to conduct electronic surveillance against Internet users – July 24, 2013
U.S. NSA seeks to build quantum computer to crack most types of encryption – January 3, 2014
Apple’s iMessage encryption trips up U.S. feds’ surveillance – April 4, 2013
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Albert P” for the heads up.]
The Dutch government gets it because it’s a socialist country that aims to, above all, protect its citizen. The same can’t be said of others who care more about its 1% and influent corporations.
My home country is by no way a socialist country. It is clear to me that you neither know what socialist means nor have visited Holland.
I’m from a socialist country. There are various degrees of socialism (Nordics countries are front runners) and let me you the Dutch sits in that spectrum. I know it cause I’m living in your country for almost 20 years my friend.
Who cares. They let in hoards of able-bodied muslims, robbing Syria et at of a generation who could fix their country, they allow Amsterdam to become a red light sewer, drugs are rampant … and now no back doors. I presume that is in tech only, right?
I’ve been to Amsterdam twice. Even the “red light” areas are clean and safe, as were the clubs where you could buy pot if that was your thing.
This could be coming from Bill O’Reilly’s view about Amsterdam, he did exactly the same and he was so wrong!
It’s such a obvious and logical concept from one of the countries from the free and civilized world.
Finally, some reason and common sense from a democracy! If only Obama and the US would be as honest and genuine in defending democratic freedoms.