🚨As someone who has been arrested and had my devices seized and examined by the police, I want to explain how…

🚨As someone who has been arrested and had my devices seized and examined by the police, I want to explain how dangerous this is. 🧵

Tom Harwood@tomhfh · Feb 21, 2025

BREAK: Absolutely horrific news for iPhone users in the UK. Apple is removing its highest level data security tool from customers in the UK, after the government demanded access to user data. This is a move that Apple has never made before in any market.

As probably everyone knows by now, 2 years ago I was arrested in front of my children, while preparing dinner for the family. The police claimed that they needed to do this in order to seize my devices for examination.

The police took all my devices and some belonging to my children. They used the RIPA act to force me to disclose all my passwords. I was told that if I did not disclose I would be charged and jailed. The alleged crime: misgendering and posting a meme.

I am currently suing the police: they have literally cited misgendering and their suspicion that I might have deleted tweets as the necessity to arrest. It was only by arresting me that they could access my devices. For memes that I did not post.

Leaving aside the wrongful arrest, I want to tell you what the police found once they had access to all my data. 39 screenshots from the complainant which were abusive of me.

The police knew that the complainant had sued me three times. They knew that there had been a long dispute on social media. They told me that if the complainant had been abusive towards me they would find it on my hard drive or in my iCloud. Reader, they did.

Having found the evidence of abuse I received on social and the 39 screenshots, guess what the police did next? They claimed I had no business collecting these screenshots (despite being embroiled in a civil case) and used it to apply for a draconian anti-stalking order.

The stalking order required: 1) an offender manager to whom I would have had to disclose all my email and social media and app passwords 2) I would have needed written permission to access the internet or contact anyone electronically - including my family 3) all my family members in my house would have needed to disclose their devices and serial numbers 4) a police officer could enter my house between 8am and 8pm and check everyone's devices You can only imagine the havoc wreaked on my family. The complainant and his supporters would have been claiming every single criticism of them was my doing And I had not even been charged with a criminal offence. The police admitted that this draconian order constituted a massive infringement of my Article 8 rights but was deemed necessary to "prevent serious crime" and because I presented a "threat to life".

It was only because I was able to access a decent legal team, that the application was dropped. Even the CPS could not find any evidence that would support charges being brought.

My case demonstrates that the UK police cannot currently be trusted. They were so captured and so determined to do me, that they tried to twist the data they found on my devices that supported my case, against me. This is the background to which Apple are surrendering.

This won't be used to combat terrorism. I literally had to surrender all access to my devices or face jail, like Tommy Robinson has. I knew I was innocent and had nothing to hide. They went through my hard drives, my emails, my photos, my messages. I still feel violated.

If the police are captured by ideology, they will take whatever they find and try to use it against you. Apple's ending of our privacy should worry us all. If it can happen to me, it can happen to you.

Finally. Lots of people who have been active or high profile on social media about gender ideology, have faced constant attempts at hacking and doxxing. It's been terrifying. Apple has just made life even easier for those who would do us harm.