Apple Removes End-to-End Encryption Tool for UK Cloud Users to Maintain Privacy Commitments | Money News

February 21, 2025 TruthUSA

Apple’s recent move to eliminate its most secure cloud storage service in the UK marks another significant moment in an ongoing conflict between US tech giants and successive British administrations.

The core of the disagreement revolves around end-to-end encryption, a secure communication technique that ensures only the sender and recipient can access the messages.

Government officials have long asserted that this technology, in its current state, obstructs law enforcement agencies from apprehending criminals, including terrorists and sexual offenders.

Conversely, Apple and other tech firms insist they will not compromise the privacy promises they have made to their users to conform to governmental pressures.

Efforts by Whitehall to resolve this issue have been ongoing for some time.

As part of the Online Safety Act 2023, the government sought to implement client-side scanning, which would require tech companies to inspect private messages prior to encryption.

Meta’s WhatsApp and Signal threatened to withdraw from the UK market in response, with Signal declaring it would “100% walk.” The government subsequently retreated from this proposition.

‘Snoopers charter’

The government is now leveraging the Investigatory Powers Act (IPA)—commonly referred to as the ‘snoopers charter’—to compel Apple to provide security agencies access to encrypted cloud data that Apple itself does not monitor.

Instead of creating a government backdoor, the tech behemoth announced it would disable Advanced Data Protection (ADP) entirely in the UK. This tool offers the most robust end-to-end encryption for cloud services.

With ADP active, only account holders can access their stored photos and documents in the cloud.

Apple users in the UK lose extra security layer

This means Apple is now conforming to legal requirements, achieving the government’s objectives, but UK users have lost an additional layer of security.

The government views this approach as essential. In 2023, the Home Office released guidance indicating a 13% increase in offences related to online indecent images of children compared to the previous year.

The guidance cited a YouGov poll indicating that the public supports the notion that tech companies should design technology capable of identifying child sexual abuse in end-to-end encrypted messaging platforms.

However, tech firms and cybersecurity experts argue that establishing a ‘backdoor’ would compromise the security and privacy of all users. Experts have attempted to create such a feature for the last three decades, with minimal success.

Some campaigners back tech firms

This stance isn’t limited to tech companies alone.

Following the emergence of this recent development, 109 civil society organizations, enterprises, and cybersecurity experts sent a joint letter to Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, stating that the demand “jeopardizes the security and privacy of millions, undermines the UK tech sector, and sets a dangerous precedent for global cybersecurity.”

Activists further assert that this initiative could jeopardize global privacy rights, with Human Rights Watch describing it as a disproportionate measure and an “alarming overreach.”

The group remarked: “People depend on secure and confidential communications to exercise their rights. Accessing device backups equates to accessing your entire phone, and robust encryption to prevent such access should be standard by default.”

In the US, Senator Ron Wyden and Congressman Andy Biggs criticized the initiative as “dangerous” and “short-sighted.”

Nonetheless, the US government has previously requested that Apple dismantle its encryption to assist with criminal investigations, with limited success.

Apple has the option to appeal this decision, but confronting major US tech corporations presents a formidable challenge for the UK government.

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