The UK’s war on Apple encryption is back

The UK government is reportedly once again demanding that Apple provide it with backdoor access to encrypted iCloud user data, following claims that the effort had been abandoned in August. The Financial Times reports that a new technical capability notice (TCN) was issued by the UK Home Office in early September, this time specifically targeting access to British citizens’ iCloud backups.

This follows the UK issuing a broader secret order in January, demanding that Apple create a backdoor for security officials to access global encrypted user files. While it’s a criminal offense to reveal the existence of these secret TCN orders, Apple responded by filing an appeal and removing a feature, Advanced Data Protection, its end-to-end encrypted iCloud storage, from the UK. After facing pressure from the US regarding potential violations of the Cloud Act, it was announced by US Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard that Britain had rescinded the order.

“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 posted to X on August 19th. While US officials raised concerns about the order during President Trump’s state visit to the UK last month, according to The Financial Times, the publication reports that two senior British government figures said the UK was no longer facing US pressure to drop its demands.

We have reached out to Apple for comment. The UK Home Office declined to comment on the situation.

The UK’s revived attempt to bypass Apple’s data encryption has sparked concerns that security and privacy may still be impacted for users worldwide. “If Apple breaks end-to-end encryption for the UK, it breaks it for everyone,” said Privacy International, a non-profit privacy watchdog. “The resulting vulnerability can be exploited by hostile states, criminals and other bad actors the world over.”