Apple has announced the removal of its Advanced Data Protection (ADP) feature for iCloud users in the United Kingdom, following a government order demanding backdoor access to encrypted user data. The optional security feature, which was introduced in December 2022, will no longer be available to new users in the UK effective immediately.
The decision comes in response to a secret order from the UK government under the Investigatory Powers Act, commonly known as the "Snoopers' Charter." The mandate reportedly requested Apple to create a backdoor that would provide access to unencrypted data of Apple users globally, not just within the UK.
"We are 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," Apple stated to multiple news outlets.
The company emphasized that ADP's end-to-end encryption ensures data can only be decrypted by the user who owns it and only on their trusted devices.
Existing UK users of ADP will need to manually disable the feature during an unspecified grace period to maintain their iCloud accounts, as Apple lacks the capability to automatically disable it. However, several core Apple services will retain their end-to-end encryption, including iMessage, FaceTime, health data, and iCloud Keychain.
The move has attracted attention from U.S. lawmakers, with Senator Ron Wyden and Representative Andy Biggs urging the Director of National Intelligence to pressure the UK to retract its order, citing potential threats to both American citizens' privacy and U.S. government security.
Apple maintains its stance against creating backdoors, stating, "We have never built a backdoor or master key to any of our products or services and we never will."
The company remains hopeful about offering enhanced security features to UK users in the future while continuing to provide ADP to customers in other countries globally.