Backdoor Access To Apple User Data Condemned

Uploaded on 2025-02-18 in NEWS-Cybersecurity News, FREE TO VIEW, BUSINESS-Services-IT & Telecoms

US lawmakers and human rights advocates have united in making a strong condemnation what is being called the British government's "dangerous" and "shortsighted" request to be able to access encrypted data stored by Apple users worldwide in its cloud service.

The order has been served by the Home Office under the Investigatory Powers Act, which compels firms to provide information to law enforcement agencies. Under the law, the demand by the Home Office cannot be made public.

Senator Ron Wyden and Congressman Andy Biggs have written to the newly appointed US National Intelligence Director, Tulsi Gabbard, saying the demand threatens the privacy and security of the US. They urge her to give the British an ultimatum: "Back down from this dangerous attack on US cybersecurity, or face serious consequences."

International human rights organisations including Human Rights Watch (HRW) have condemned a recent order by the United Kingdom government demanding Apple provide access to encrypted user data.The order, reportedly issued by the UK Home Office in January 2025, targets Apple's Advanced Data Protection feature, which employs end-to-end encryption to secure cloud-stored data.

"The United Kingdom government's order to Apple to allow access to encrypted cloud data harms the privacy rights of users in the UK and worldwide," Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have said.

This uses end-to-end encryption, where only the account holder can access the data stored. Apple itself cannot see it. It is an opt-in service, and not all users choose to activate it.Apple said that that it views Privacy as a "Fundamental Human Right”, which is on their Website.

Senator Wyden and Congressman Biggs say agreeing to the request would "undermine Americans' privacy rights and expose them to espionage by China, Russia and other adversaries". They state that Apple does not make different versions of its encryption software for each country it operates in and, therefore, Apple customers in the UK will use the same software as Americans.

The UK government has that it does not want to start combing through everybody's data, but it would want to access it if there were a risk to national security and so it would focus on an individual, rather than using it for mass surveillance. British authorities would still have to follow a legal process, have a good reason and request permission for a specific account in order to access data - just as they do now with unencrypted data.

Apple has previously said it would pull encryption services like ADP from the UK market rather than comply with such government demands, telling Parliament it would "never build a back door" in its products.

WhatsApp, owned by Meta, has also said that it would choose being blocked over weakening message security.
But even withdrawing the product from the UK might not be enough to ensure compliance, the Investigatory Powers Act applies worldwide to any tech firm with a UK market, even if they are not based there.

This change by the UK government has upset privacy campaigners, with Privacy International calling it an "unprecedented attack" on the private data of individuals. however, the US government itself has also previously asked Apple to break its encryption as part of criminal investigations.

Washington Post | BBC | BBC | Andrew Biggs | Tribune India

Image: Şeyma D

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