Apple has just proposed a model of cooperation with the forces of order – BGR

Technology companies are increasingly submitting requests for user data from law enforcement agencies, now that much of our life is tied to our phones and the data we share with others. them. This is a reality that has led to some confrontations between tech giants who are trying to define a reasonable position on the protection of privacy and the legitimate needs that coincide with police investigations. side of the government table.

In a new letter to US Senator Sheldon Whitehouse and signed by Apple's General Counsel, Kate Adams, the company points out that she has responded to more than 14,000 police requests in 2017 – from completely separate requests from the problem to help it bypass the encryption on the Apple device of a suspect. These 14,000 requests dating from last year, however, seem to have inspired a major new effort by Apple to work with law enforcement.

The letter to Senator Whitehouse explains that Apple is in the process of setting up a special web portal to handle all law enforcement requests it receives. Parallel to this, Apple will set up a training module for law enforcement officers, in addition to building a team of professionals so that Apple can provide these agents with training and training. other information specific to Apple on this new effort.

"Later this year, we will launch an online portal so that law enforcement agencies around the world can submit legitimate requests for data, track pending requests, and obtain responsive data from Apple," reads Adams letter dated September 4th. Macrumors. "When the portal goes live, law enforcement officers will be able to request authentication information, which will allow them to submit legal requests online."

To give context to his new effort, this letter (the full text of which is available here) further explains that these 14,000 requests last year were related to more than 62,000 devices, accounts or financial identifiers in the United States.

The training module that Apple says Apple will develop reflects the ongoing training that the company offers to agents on digital forensics and on how to get information from Apple.

It should be noted that Apple will not share or process encrypted data via this new portal. Which means that this still does not solve the problem of what criminals and suspects call "slipping into the dark", hiding their activity on the encrypted devices that Apple, at least, has resisted with firmness. in.

Whitehouse issued a statement in which he said he is pleased to see Apple launch this platform and that it plans to "continue to work on bipartite legislation to help law enforcement to do their job in the workplace." cyberspace ". When it comes to finding solutions so that these problems are not resolved on a case-by-case basis, technology companies themselves may have to proactively propose their own solutions so that lawmakers can take a step forward in adopting a unique approach. The first, based on today's news, seems to be what Apple had in mind.