Apple Pulls iCloud Advanced Data Protection Feature in the UK in Reaction to Government’s Backdoor Mandate

Apple is removing its Advanced Data Protection (ADP) feature for iCloud user data in the UK following a public fight with the government over new backdoor access requirements. UK users can no longer enable the encryption feature, and those who have already enabled it for their iCloud data will be required to disable it soon.

“Apple can no longer offer Advanced Data Protection (ADP) in the United Kingdom to new users and current UK users will eventually need to disable this security feature,“ says Apple spokesperson Julien Trosdorf in a statement to The Verge. “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 launched Advanced Data Protection for iCloud back in 2022. The optional feature offers end-to-end encryption for additional iCloud data including iCloud backups, Notes, and the iCloud Photo Library. By default, iCloud already protects iCloud passwords, messages, FaceTime calls, and health data with end-to-end encryption, and this won’t change in the UK. However, without Advanced Data Protection, other data categories that aren’t encrypted will be accessible by Apple… as well as official authorities with a warrant.

Apple disabling Advanced Data Protection in the country is a way for the company to not comply with the government’s order to build a backdoor into its cloud services. “Apple remains committed to offering our users the highest level of security for their personal data and are hopeful that we will be able to do so in the future in the United Kingdom,” Trosdorf said in Apple’s statement. “As we have said many times before, we have never built a backdoor or master key to any of our products or services and we never will.”

While Apple can’t automatically disable Advanced Data Protection on iCloud accounts in the UK that have it enabled, the company said that it will give users an unspecified amount of time to do it. UK users who fail to disable ADP will lose access to their iCloud account, however.

It’s not immediately clear if Apple’s decision to pull ADP in the UK is the end of the company’s spat with the government. Apple prides itself on offering the highest level of security with its products, even though the company did agree to let a local company operate its iCloud service in China.