Apple has stopped providing its end-to-end encrypted iCloud Advanced Data Protection (ADP) storage service to new users in the UK, and will also be forced to disable the feature for existing users.
Apple has stopped providing its end-to-end encrypted iCloud Advanced Data Protection (ADP) storage service to new users in the UK, and will also be forced to disable the feature for existing users.
According to The Verge, this happened at the request of UK security services.
«Apple can no longer offer Advanced Data Protection (ADP) in the United Kingdom to new users, and existing users in the UK will also eventually have to disable this security feature,» the publication quotes an Apple spokesperson as saying.
Recall that Apple originally launched ADP in late 2022, allowing you to protect iCloud data, such as file backups and photos, with this feature.
Removing the ADP feature means that British users' files will be available to Apple as well as law enforcement, although a warrant will still be required.
Meanwhile, some types of iCloud data are end-to-end encrypted by default, and this will continue to be the case even in the UK — this includes passwords, health data, payment information and iMessage logs. Meanwhile, among the types of data that will no longer be encrypted are iCloud file backups, photos, notes and voice memos.
Apple won’t be able to automatically disable ADP for existing iCloud accounts due to the way end-to-end encryption works. However, according to Apple’s press service, users in the UK will be given a certain amount of time to disable ADP themselves and continue using their iCloud accounts. The company has not yet announced a deadline for this.
Earlier this month, The Washington Post reported that the UK Home Office had demanded backdoor access to encrypted iCloud files downloaded not only by Britons but also by users around the world.
In the past, UK security services have repeatedly rejected end-to-end encryption services, arguing that encryption is used by terrorists and those who promote child abuse. «End-to-end encryption cannot be allowed to hinder efforts to catch those responsible for the most serious crimes,» a government spokesman told The Guardian in 2022, when Apple first introduced the feature.
Meanwhile, Google has been offering encrypted backups to Android users since 2018, and Meta also offers the ability to encrypt WhatsApp backups, and both of these features are currently available in the UK.
Recently, dev.ua wrote that Britain is the first country in the world to introduce criminal liability for the creation of AI content containing child sexual abuse.
