Apple iPhones phased out of German government in favor of encrypted phones to block U.S. NSA spying

“Members of the German government will use encrypted phones as part of ‘urgent’ guidelines to protect against NSA snooping. The encryption software is not compatible with Apple, so Germany will phase out the use of iPhones at government level,” RT News reports. “Germany’s two main political parties – the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and the Social Democratic Party (SPD) – have agreed on new guidelines to ensure ministers are protected from having their communications intercepted by spy agencies. As part of the new regulations, politicians and high-ranking officials will be required to make calls on encrypted phones.”

“Software approved by Germany’s Bonn Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) will be used to protect phones from outside meddling. The program itself is incompatible with Apple technology, so German ministers will be forbidden from using iPhones for official communications, reports newspaper The Local,” RT News reports. “‘Our conversations and communication structure have to be safer,’ the government report said in the wake of the spy scandal that revealed Chancellor Angela Merkel’s communications had been monitored by the NSA.”

“Following the spy scandal, the German people’s trust in the US as an ally has plummeted,” RT News reports. “A recent poll showed 35 percent still see Washington as a reliable partner – a drop of 14 percent since July.”

Read more in the full article here.

[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Ed Garcia” for the heads up.]

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