UK renews pressure on Apple for iCloud backdoor

The UK government has revived its push against Apple over customer data, demanding access to British users' encrypted iCloud backups

The UK government has revived its push against Apple over customer data, demanding access to British users' encrypted iCloud backups through a technical capability notice, The Guardian reports.

The Home Office did not confirm or deny the order but stressed it would take "all actions necessary... to keep UK citizens safe."

Apple, which had already suspended new sign-ups for its Advanced Data Protection service in the UK earlier this year, said it was "gravely disappointed" that it could not provide the extra layer of encryption to British users and reiterated it would never build a backdoor into its products.

The company had previously challenged an earlier order through the investigatory powers tribunal.

While details of that case remain restricted under secrecy laws, Privacy International warned that forcing Apple to weaken encryption in the UK could compromise global security, saying any such vulnerability would be "exploited by hostile states, criminals and other bad actors the world over."

Written by

Sharon Florentine Editorial Director

Sharon Florentine is the editorial director for CyberRisk Alliance’s Channel Brands and acting editorial director for SC UK. She is responsible for setting strategy and editorial direction and developing content for news, features, analysis and other written content, moderates live webcasts, and oversees research projects. Sharon has previously held key editorial, content and leadership positions at DevOps.com, Security Boulevard, CIO.com, Ziff Davis Enterprise, and CRN, among others.