Apple removes security feature to allow British government access to private data
Apple has removed its Advanced Data Protection (ADP) feature for British iCloud users in response to the UK government’s demand for access to private user data.
In January, the Washington Post reported that the Labour government demanded Apple provide it with blanket access to end-to-end encrypted files uploaded to its iCloud worldwide. This would include access to private user data not just in the UK, but the United States and other countries. The demand, which was undisclosed to the public, cited the Investigatory Powers Act of 2016, which allows the government to require electronic communication providers to “remove electronic protection of data.”
In what appears to be an attempt at a compromise, Apple confirmed to TechCrunch last week that it will be pulling its ADP feature for UK users that protects their data with end-to-end encryption. This would give the government a backdoor to gain access to the iCloud data of any user in the UK but not those in other countries.
“We are gravely disappointed that the protections provided by ADP will not be available to our customers in the U.K. given the continuing rise of data breaches and other threats to customer privacy,” the company said. “Enhancing the security of cloud storage with end-to-end encryption is more urgent than ever before.”
‘Apple's ending of our privacy should worry us all’
The UK government’s request and Apple’s compliance have drawn widespread outrage and warnings about free speech violations. Caroline Farrow, a journalist and mother of five who was jailed and investigated for “misgendering” someone online, warned that the government’s blanket access to user data “won’t be used to combat terrorism.”
Farrow was subjected to a five-month-long police investigation in 2019 for opinions she expressed on social media regarding transgenderism. According to Farrow, her chief crime was “misgendering” — referring to someone by their actual gender and not the gender they claim to be. In 2022, Farrow was also arrested in her home for “malicious communications and harassment” while she was making dinner for her children. Police seized several electronic devices, including from her husband’s parish next door.
When they accessed her data, police found 39 screenshots Farrow had taken of abusive messages from the “offended” party. The police accused Farrow of stalking and tried to obtain a restraining order against her. The order would have placed Farrow under constant monitoring of an officer who could enter her house any time between 8 AM and 8 PM and access any electronic device. Farrow would require permission from the officer to access the internet or communicate electronically with family, and her family members would be required to disclose their device details.
“My case demonstrates that the UK police cannot currently be trusted,” Farrow wrote in a series of tweets on X last week. “They were so captured and so determined to do me, that they tried to twist the data they found on my devices that supported my case, against me. This is the background to which Apple are surrendering.”
“This won't be used to combat terrorism,” she continued. “I literally had to surrender all access to my devices or face jail, like Tommy Robinson has. I knew I was innocent and had nothing to hide. They went through my hard drives, my emails, my photos, my messages. I still feel violated.
“If the police are captured by ideology, they will take whatever they find and try to use it against you. Apple's ending of our privacy should worry us all. If it can happen to me, it can happen to you.”
