Just how private are your conversations on Apple's iMessage?
A new report from The Intercept found that iMessage texts leave behind a log of phone numbers and Apple shares this log with law enforcement when directed to by court order.
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Here's an excerpt from The Intercept story:
Every time you type a number into your iPhone for a text conversation, the Messages app contacts Apple servers to determine whether to route a given message over the ubiquitous SMS system, represented in the app by those déclassé green text bubbles, or over Apple’s proprietary and more secure messaging network, represented by pleasant blue bubbles, according to the document. Apple records each query in which your phone calls home to see who’s in the iMessage system and who’s not.
Apple has yet to comment on the report.
President Barack Obama in 2015 signed a reform measure that took away the National Security Agency's authority to collect in bulk the phone records of millions of Americans.
The USA Freedom Act requires the government obtain a targeted warrant or court order to collect phone metadata from telecommunications companies.
Backers said the program was set up to help locate suspected terrorist activity since the September 11 attacks. The government accessed times calls were logged, to what number and their duration -- or, in other words, their metadata (but not content). Civil liberty groups said the old system allowed the government too much power to snoop on citizens.