And look at all the other potentially sensitive data that is not end-to-end encrypted in the backups. Photos, notes, reminders, calendars, the list goes on.
Yes, that really does mean that Apple can decrypt your messages.
I don’t think so:
Apple doesn’t log the contents of
messages or attachments, which are protected
by end-to-end encryption so no one but
the sender and receiver can access them.
Apple can’t decrypt the data.
When a user turns on iMessage on a device,
the device generates encryption and signing
pairs of keys for use with the service. For
encryption, there is an encryption RSA
1280-bit key as well as an encryption EC
256-bit key on the NIST P-256 curve. For
signatures, Elliptic Curve Digital Signature
Algorithm (ECDSA) 256-bit signing keys are
used. The private keys are saved in the
device’s keychain and only available after
first unlock. The public keys are sent to
Apple Identity Service (IDS), where they are
associated with the user’s phone number or
email address, along with the device’s APNs
address.
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202303
Yes, that really does mean that Apple can decrypt your messages. In fact, Apple does it this way at the explicit request of the FBI, as reported by Reuters. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-apple-fbi-icloud-exclusiv...
And look at all the other potentially sensitive data that is not end-to-end encrypted in the backups. Photos, notes, reminders, calendars, the list goes on.