If that is the case — that Apple’s legal department killed the project to avoid “poking the bear” — then it’s ultimately irrelevant whether Apple briefed the FBI in advance or not. It’s acquiescence, and users will be left unprotected. Not just in the U.S., where the FBI has jurisdiction, but everywhere in the world where encryption is legal… More here.
Mr G. covers this topic extremely well in the above article. It would be a real shame if backups remain unencrypted because it destroys the rest of the protections available.
Categories: Apple
McGST 
It’s hard enough ensuring that your information on your own devices is kept private. As soon as you turn it over to a 3rd party, you’ve effectively lost all control. As for syncing between devices, as opposed to backup or data storage, one should choose their providers carefully. I understand that when you sync, you store your data in the cloud somewhere. All the more reason to be very careful of who and where. Unfortunately, I think all of us have at least some data that they would prefer not to share, even if it’s passwords, which is the obvious one.
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