BBC: The UK government has demanded to be able to access encrypted data stored by Apple users worldwide in its cloud service.
Currently only the Apple account holder can access data stored in this way - the tech giant itself cannot view it.
The demand has been served by the Home Office under the Investigatory Powers Act (IPA), which compels firms to provide information to law enforcement agencies.
Apple declined to comment, but says on its website, external that it views privacy as a "fundamental human right".
Under the law, the demand cannot be made public.
The news was first reported by the Washington Post, external quoting sources familiar with the matter, and the BBC has spoken to similar contacts.
The Home Office said: "We do not comment on operational matters, including for example confirming or denying the existence of any such notices."
Privacy International called it an "unprecedented attack" on the private data of individuals.
"This is a fight the UK should not have picked," said the charity's legal director Caroline Wilson Palow.
"This overreach sets a hugely damaging precedent and will embolden abusive regimes the world over." » | Zoe Kleinman, Technology editor | Friday, February 7, 2025
Democracy is an illusion! It’s become a political system fostered by the élite, for the élite, in order to fool the people that they have a stake in the system. In actual fact, they have virtually none. The whole political system in the modern era, despite having noble beginnings, is now used to benefit the few at the expense of the many. – Mark Alexander, June 29, 2018
Showing posts with label UK government. Show all posts
Showing posts with label UK government. Show all posts
February 07, 2025
November 22, 2008
THE TELEGRAPH: Muslims are to be offered Sharia-compliant pension funds by a new Government body.
The scheme to provide retirement funds for millions who do not already have a company pension is likely to include a special option that would not invest in companies deemed sinful under Islam.
Ministers are keen to get Muslims saving with the Personal Accounts Delivery Authority, as many who have low-paid jobs or who have moved to Britain in recent decades are unlikely to have put away much for their old age.
The decision to provide a Sharia-compliant pension fund is another sign of the growing influence of Islamic law in British public life and in particular the country's finance industry.
The prospect of some aspects of Sharia law such as divorce proceedings and dispute resolution being enshrined in the English legal system – raised by the Archbishop of Canterbury and Lord Chief Justice this year – remains highly controversial because of fears that the system discriminates against women and that a two-tier approach would be divisive.
But more and more financial products are being tailored to cater for Britain's population of 2million Muslims.
The religion's holy book, the Qu'ran, forbids Muslims from making money from money, so they cannot use products that involve the charging of interest nor invest in traditional financial services firms.
Gambling, drinking and pornography are also seen as immoral under Islam, so Muslims cannot put their money into companies that promote these activities.
The Islamic finance market is estimated to be worth £500million already and is growing rapidly.
Families can already get Sharia-compliant baby bonds under the Government's Child Trust Fund scheme while the UK is likely to become the first Western country to issue Islamic bonds in order to raise money from the Middle East.
This year has also seen the launch of Britain's first Islamic insurance company and pre-paid MasterCard. There are a handful of wholly Islamic banks in the country and several more that offer alternatives to mortgages which do not involve the charging of interest. >>> By Martin Beckford, Social Affairs Correspondent | November 21, 2008
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November 18, 2008
INTERNATIONAL HERALD TRIBUNE: KUALA LUMPUR: Islamic banking is set to rise from its modest 2 percent share of bank assets as the government encourages growth and Muslims overcome their suspicion, sharia lender Gatehouse Bank said on Tuesday.
Islamic finance, which rejects interest-based lending and speculation in favour of profit and loss sharing between venture partners, has been in Britain since the 1970s, but only a small number of Muslims have embraced it.
In recent years, Britain has been viewed as the European leader in providing Islamic financial services, aiming to serve both domestic Muslim markets as well as tapping into the vast wealth of Gulf investors.
"The government is very keen on social inclusion and economic inclusion and it feels that still there are areas of the UK where there's not enough economic inclusion," Gatehouse Chairman Richard Thomas told reporters on the sidelines of an Islamic finance forum in Malaysia.
"So they feel that if they open up alternative finance such as Islamic finance then that will allow people to be included in the British economy in a way they weren't before."
He did not give estimates for the Islamic finance industry's growth.
Britain intends to issue its own sovereign sharia-compliant sukuk debt in a rolling programme worth around 2 billion pounds, although it has said legal barriers still remain and it will make a final decision later. >>> Reuters (Reporting by Liau Y-Sing) | Novemebr 18, 2008
THE GUARDIAN: Standardisation Moves to Help Sharia Finance-scholar
KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 18 (Reuters) - Efforts to standardise the reading of the sharia will not stifle the Islamic finance sector, a leading sharia scholar said on Tuesday, dismissing concerns that the industry risks being smothered by too much regulation.
A lack of standardisation in Islamic finance contracts is one of the biggest complaints among bankers in the $1 trillion industry, but there are also worries that a growing effort to harmonise across the globe could create a one-size-fits all approach in structuring deals.
"In Islamic law we encourage debate, research, scholarship and it is an ongoing process which cannot be stopped by anybody," Sheikh Nizam Yaquby, a highly regarded scholar, told reporters on the sidelines of an Islamic finance forum.
"However, for the purpose of standardisation, it is important to have certain prudential rules and basic contracts especially repetitive ones to be accepted among a group."
Sharia scholars are experts in Islamic law and international finance. They are seen as the industry's gatekeepers as they sit on the Islamic boards of institutions and rule on whether or not proposed products are sharia compliant.
Islamic law is open to diverse interpretations, resulting in some financing structures that aren't accepted by all Islamic markets.
An Islamic finance structure called bai bithaman ajil that is popular in Malaysia, for example, is not accepted by Middle East markets as Islamic.
Under bai bithaman ajil, a bank purchases an asset for its customer and sells it to him at a profit, with the sum to be repaid in instalments.
Recent attempts to harmonise industry standards include a plan by the International Swaps and Derivatives Association to launch standards next year for over-the-counter sharia-compliant derivative contracts. >>> Reuters, Tuesday November 18 2008
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