Tech giant Apple has taken a surprising step in the UK by discontinuing its most advanced end-to-end security encryption feature for cloud data. The announcement came on Friday, revealing that the company is dropping the Advanced Data Protection feature, which extends end-to-end encryption to various types of user data, in response to reported government demands for access to user data.
In the UK, new users are no longer able to access the Advanced Data Protection feature, and existing users will eventually be required to disable this security measure, according to Apple. The battle between governments and tech companies over encryption has been ongoing, with security officials arguing that encryption hampers criminal investigations while tech firms maintain its importance for user privacy.
The removal of end-to-end encryption for iCloud backup means that Apple may have the ability to access user data such as iMessages under certain circumstances that would have otherwise been protected. This data could be disclosed to authorities if legally necessary. On the other hand, if a user has end-to-end encryption enabled, Apple is unable to access the data under any circumstances.
Apple clarified that data encrypted prior to the introduction of its protection service in December 2022, such as health information, passwords, and iMessage and FaceTime communications, will remain encrypted. Law enforcement agencies have frequently targeted these services through iCloud backups, which were not end-to-end encrypted until the Advanced Data Protection feature was introduced.
Users in the UK will no longer have the option to end-to-end encrypt their iCloud backups, Apple stated. However, since Apple does not hold the encryption keys for current users of the data protection service in the UK, the company will not be able to deactivate the feature for them. Apple will offer these users the opportunity to disable the feature themselves.
When asked about the matter, a spokesperson for Britain’s Home Office declined to confirm whether such an order had been issued, stating that they do not comment on operational matters. Apple expressed disappointment that the protections provided by Advanced Data Protection will not be accessible to its UK customers, especially given the increasing risks of data breaches and other threats to customer privacy.
Despite these developments, Apple’s shares remained largely unaffected on Friday. The company has a history of resisting government attempts to undermine encryption, as seen in their refusal to create backdoors in their technology. Other tech companies have also grappled with encryption laws on a global scale, with Signal even considering leaving the UK due to similar concerns, and Meta Platforms facing challenges regarding its encryption plans for WhatsApp.
The report was contributed to by Aditya Soni and Stephen Nellis of Reuters, with additional reporting by Arsheeya Bajwa and Zaheer Kachwala in Bengaluru. The article was edited by Sayantani Ghosh and Peter Henderson.
