Apple has announced it will discontinue its Advanced Data Protection (ADP) feature for UK users, citing concerns over data breaches and privacy threats, The Associated Press reports.
The move follows reports that the British government demanded the tech giant create a backdoor to access fully encrypted data stored in iCloud under the Investigatory Powers Act of 2016.
ADP, an opt-in feature rolled out in late 2022, provides end-to-end encryption for iCloud data, including files, photos, and notes. This encryption ensures that only the user can access their data, even if it’s stored in the cloud.
According to a report in The Washington Post, British security officials issued Apple with a “technical capability notice” under the controversial Investigatory Powers Act, often referred to as the “snoopers’ charter.” This law empowers British intelligence agencies to hack devices, collect bulk online data, and compel companies to remove encryption for electronic eavesdropping. Critically, revealing the existence of such government demands is a criminal offense.
“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 said.
The Investigatory Powers Act has been criticized for its broad surveillance powers, including provisions that allow the government to intercept communications and access private data. Critics argue that the law undermines privacy and civil liberties.
While Apple hasn’t disclosed the number of UK users currently utilizing ADP, the company confirmed that the feature will remain available for users in other countries. Existing UK users will eventually see the feature disabled.
Despite the withdrawal of ADP, Apple clarified that certain types of data will still be end-to-end encrypted in the UK by default, including iCloud Keychain passwords, Health app information, and communications on iMessage and FaceTime. End-to-end encryption ensures that only the sender and recipient can view messages, rendering them unreadable to anyone else, even if intercepted.
