UK demands Apple to provide access to encrypted iCloud content of users

The UK Security Service requires Apple to create a backdoor that will allow its employees to access all content uploaded by users to the iCloud cloud storage. This was reported by The Washington Post.

The British government issued the order in January 2025. It required Apple to provide full access to all encrypted materials, not just help with access to certain accounts. In addition, such a backdoor would have given the British government access to user data around the world, not just the British.

According to the sources, instead of agreeing to such conditions, Apple is likely to stop providing Advanced Data Protection for UK users. In addition, the company may appeal this request to a closed technical commission or go to court, but it will not be allowed to postpone compliance during the appeal.

Reportedly, the UK Home Office sent the company a document called a "Notice of Technical Capability", which, in accordance with the UK Investigatory Powers Act 2016, allows law enforcement agencies to request assistance with evidence collection.

One person with knowledge of the matter, a U.S. encryption consultant, said that Apple would be prohibited from warning users that its encryption does not guarantee complete security. In addition, a former White House security adviser confirmed that the British government had indeed made such a request.

Apple may cooperate with law enforcement to provide access to the files of users who do not use the Advanced Data Protection feature introduced for iCloud in 2022, which provides full encryption of all files in the cloud storage. Although this feature is optional and most Apple product owners have not enabled it, when activated, it completely restricts the company's access to files.

The UK government expressed dissatisfaction with the cloud storage encryption feature back in 2022, when Apple was just starting to implement it. At the time, a government spokesperson noted that end-to-end encryption should not impede investigations of the most serious crimes.

When Apple was first warned about the possibility of a backdoor order, the company made a statement that such a practice could force it to publicly remove encrypted cloud storage from the UK market. In addition to this, one of the biggest risks of such a backdoor could be that it will be used by malicious actors and authoritarian regimes around the world.

Apple representatives did not comment on the situation. Representatives of the UK Home Office stated that they would not comment on operational matters, including confirming or denying the existence of such orders.