Apple chief urges caution over UK 'snoopers' charter'

Tim Cook warns government that plans to give intelligence agencies access to UK emails could actually help criminals

Apple's CEO Tim Cook (pictured) has urged the UK government to rethink its snooping charter after claiming a weakening of encryption could have "dire consequences".

Earlier this month, home secretary Theresa May unveiled the Investigatory Powers Bill, renamed by many as the "Snoopers' Charter", which is set to change how police and intelligence agencies access communications.

It means comms firms will be legally obliged to help agents hack into people's smartphones and computers to access private data if the owner is under suspicion.

In a recent interview with the Daily Telegraph, the Apple head honcho said: "To protect people who use any products, you have to encrypt. You can just look around and see all the data breaches that are going on. These things are becoming more frequent. They can not only result in privacy breaches, but also security issues. We believe very strongly in end-to-end encryption and no back doors."

He added: "Any back door is a back door for everyone. Everybody wants to crack down on terrorists. Everybody wants to be secure. The question is how. Opening a back door can have dire consequences."

In separate news, the Irish Times reported that Apple is set to create up to 1,000 new jobs in Cork by 2017, through the expansion of its existing Irish plant. The technology giant is expected to construct a new building on its Hollyhill site, and already employs more than 5,000 people in Ireland.