Apple Inc. AAPL has reportedly withdrawn its most secure cloud storage service, Advanced Data Protection (ADP), from the UK after the British government demanded secret access to user data.
The decision follows an order under the UK’s Investigatory Powers Act, which would have required Apple to provide a “backdoor” to iPhone backups and cloud data, enabling law enforcement to access information otherwise protected by encryption, The Financial Times reports.
The company stated that it could no longer offer ADP to new UK users, and current users would eventually be forced to disable the feature, the report further noted, citing a statement from Apple.
Since the service was introduced in December 2022, British Apple users had to opt in to benefit from the advanced security.
As of February 2025, attempts to activate ADP in the UK have now resulted in an error message.
The British government’s request to access encrypted data through a “backdoor” has drawn criticism, with experts warning it would undermine online privacy and security for UK users, BBC reports.
Prof Alan Woodward, a cybersecurity expert, called the move an “act of self-harm,” as BBC dds, while online privacy advocate Caro Robson labeled it as an unprecedented step for a company to pull a product rather than comply with a government directive.
This development highlights the tension between national security demands and digital privacy rights, raising concerns over the global impact of such policies on technology companies.
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