Apple pulls end-to-end iCloud encryption in UK

With Advanced Data Protection for iCloud, users have the choice to further protect important iCloud data even in the case of a data breach.
Apple announced on Friday that it is discontinuing its most robust end-to-end encryption feature for iCloud data, Advanced Data Protection, in the UK — an unprecedented decision reportedly prompted by government demands for access to user data. This optional feature, which applies end-to-end encryption to a broad array of user information, will no longer be offered to new UK users, and existing users in the region will eventually be required to turn it off, according to the company.
Aditya Soni and Stephen Nellis for Reuters:
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Security officials [in the UK] argue that encryption hinders criminal investigations, while tech firms defend it as essential to user privacy.
The loss of end-to-end encryption for iCloud backup means Apple would be able in some instances to read user data such as iMessages that would otherwise be protected and pass it on to authorities if legally compelled. In contrast, if a user has end-to-end encryption, Apple cannot read the data under any circumstances.
Law enforcement agencies have frequently targeted those services through iCloud backups, which were not end-to-end encrypted before Apple offered Advanced Data Protection. Those backups – which can contain photos and other sensitive information and are widely used – can no longer be end-to-end encrypted for UK users, Apple said.
Because Apple does not possess the encryption keys of existing users of its data protection service in the UK, Apple said it will not be able to turn off the features for those users. Apple said it will offer those users a chance to turn it off themselves.
Apple said it “was gravely disappointed that the protections provided by ADP will not be available to our customers in the UK given the continuing rise of data breaches and other threats to customer privacy.” The company reiterated on Friday that it would “never build a backdoor into its technology.”

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MacDailyNews Take: Elections have consequences. Now the UK marinates in them.
As we wrote nearly a decade ago, when the UK was handicapped with another shit-for-brains PM:
It’s not enough that every Brit alive has a government camera shoved up their ass 24/7/365? The UK has already slipped far down the slope that they ought to rename the place Airstrip One. – MacDailyNews, November 3, 2015
Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. – Benjamin Franklin
The current batshit insane “leadership” of Airstrip One is having yet another crisis of confidence. – MacDailyNews, February 7, 2025
Censorship reflects a society’s lack of confidence in itself. – Potter Stewart
MacDailyNews Note: Apple’s Advanced Data Protection for iCloud is an optional setting that offers Apple’s highest level of cloud data security. If you choose to enable Advanced Data Protection, the majority of your iCloud data — including iCloud Backup, Photos, Notes, and more — is protected using end-to-end encryption. No one else can access your end-to-end encrypted data, not even Apple, and this data remains secure even in the case of a data breach in the cloud.
How to turn on Advanced Data Protection for iCloud
On Mac

Choose Apple menu  > System Settings.
Click your name, then click iCloud.
Click Advanced Data Protection, then click Turn On.
Follow the onscreen instructions to review your recovery methods and enable Advanced Data Protection.

On iPhone and iPad

Open the Settings app.
Tap your name, then tap iCloud.
Scroll down, tap Advanced Data Protection, then tap Turn on Advanced Data Protection.
Follow the onscreen instructions to review your recovery methods and enable Advanced Data Protection.

More info about Apple’s Advanced Data Protection for iCloud here.

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