UK Issues New Secret Order Targeting iCloud Data
The UK government has reportedly reasserted its demands for Apple to grant backdoor access to encrypted iCloud user data, following claims that similar efforts had been abandoned in August, reports 24brussels.
In early September, the UK Home Office issued a new technical capability notice (TCN) focused specifically on accessing backups of British citizens’ iCloud accounts. This development follows a previous secret order issued in January, which aimed at creating a backdoor for officials to access globally encrypted user files.
Apple previously responded to the wider demands by appealing against them and removing the Advanced Data Protection feature, which enabled end-to-end encryption for iCloud storage in the UK. In light of the order’s reversal due to US pressure regarding potential violations of the Cloud Act, US Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard announced in August that the UK had rescinded the backdoor access mandate.
“The UK has agreed to drop its mandate for Apple to provide a ‘back door’ that would have enabled access to the protected encrypted data of American citizens and encroached on our civil liberties,” Gabbard stated on August 19.
While US officials had raised concerns about the TCN during President Trump’s state visit to the UK, The Financial Times reported that two senior British government officials have indicated that the UK is no longer under US pressure to abandon its demands.
The UK’s renewed push for encryption bypassing has raised significant concerns over the implications for security and privacy for users globally. “If Apple breaks end-to-end encryption for the UK, it breaks it for everyone,” warned Privacy International, a non-profit privacy watchdog. “The resulting vulnerability can be exploited by hostile states, criminals, and other bad actors around the world.”
We have reached out to Apple for comment; the UK Home Office has declined to comment on the matter.
