Chinese Institution Retas AirDrop To Limit Anti-Government Material

JAKARTA A Chinese government-backed institution has found a way to retrieve iPhone user data. Through AirDrop, they can get user email and phone number.

According to a Briomberg report, this unnamed institution can hack AirDrop by breaking the encryption of the feature. This action supported by the government is part of eradicating anti-government content.

The action of taking data from AirDrop users was first announced by the Chinese police. The City Judicial Bureau, part of the police, said it had identified several suspects, but they did not disclose their arrests.

"This increases the efficiency and accuracy of case settlements and prevents the spread of inappropriate comments and the potential for bad influence," the bureau said in an online post, quoted via Engadget.

In fact, this encryption breaking action was carried out because of the security form of AirDrop. The feature uses encrypted communication tools so that user data such as Apple ID, phone number, and email will not be revealed.

This strong security is used as a means of spreading anti-government material by activists. They will share information that is prohibited on the internet and has been limited by the Great Firewall of China, a government-run system to limit information.

The only weakness the government has is the tracking of information through AirDrop. Activists often share record of protests that include date, time, and location, as well as other information that the government does not like.

The government is concerned about having discussed this issue with Apple. This complaint was responded to by the launch of a new system at AirDrop, namely the ability to receive messages from the public in just 10 minutes.

Through the time set by Apple, the AirDrop system capable of receiving messages from Everyone will immediately change to Just Contacts. However, this effort is considered insufficient so that the government is looking for ways to break AirDrop's encryption.