The UK government’s secret demand for backdoor access to users’ encrypted data went deeper than we had previously known, Financial Times. The Brits didn’t just want access to data protected by Apple’s Advanced Data Protection feature, it also wanted access to data of standard iCloud services used by millions worldwide.
New court filings published on Wednesday by the Investigatory Powers Tribunal (IPC) show the Home Office’s technical capability notice (TCN) “is not limited to” Apple’s Advanced Data Protection feature. The order also included requirements for Apple to “provide and maintain a capability to disclose categories of data stored within a cloud-based backup service,” which suggests the UK also wanted access to other information, like backed-up messages and passwords.
The filing also indicates that despite the Trump administration’s claims last week that the British government had “agreed to drop” its effort to tap American citizens’ private information, UK officials have yet to modify its demand for Apple to grant access to data belonging to customers outside the UK.
“We’re very concerned this is still going on,” said one person familiar with the case.
Apple in February, turned off its Advanced Data Protection (ADP) iCloud feature for users in the United Kingdom, following that government’s demand for backdoor access to users’ encrypted data. UK officials had secretly ordered Apple to provide unfettered access to the encrypted iCloud data of users worldwide.
ADP provides end-to-end encryption for additional iCloud categories like Photos, Notes, and device backups, while standard iCloud already encrypts data in transit and at rest but allows Apple to access it with proper legal requests.
