Ethereum’s Buterin Urges Apple to Leave UK

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has urged tech giant Apple to withdraw from the UK.

According to a Friday report by the Washington Post, the UK government has demanded “blanket” access to encrypted data stored on iCloud around the globe. The report said that Apple would likely no longer offer encrypted storage in the country.

The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF), a U.S. nonprofit public policy think tank, described the order as “dangerous,” arguing that it could erode digital privacy.

Buterin believes that leaving the world’s sixth-largest economy would prevent Apple from compromising its encryption.

In fact, the cryptocurrency mogul has said that he would commit to buying an additional Apple device if the tech giant were to make such an audacious move. Buterin is already using Apple AirPods.

Back in 2022, Buterin praised Apple for adding end-to-end encryption for iCloud backups with iOS 16.2. “Seems like a positive step. I’m critical of Apple for many reasons…but they have done some important good things in protecting user privacy,” he said.

Previously, the Ethereum developer criticized Apple for going down the closed-source path. “My problem with Apple is not that they are not choosing to be more brave. My problem with Apple is that they have gone down a closed source path that requires them to deliberately decide to be brave for anything interesting to happen,” he said.

In 2020, he called on Apple to let their users download applications from alternative stores. “We need more competition in app stores and ultimately mobile phone operating systems, and we need it now,” he said back then.

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