Apple has taken the unprecedented step of disabling its Advanced Data Protection (ADP) feature for UK users after the British government invoked surveillance laws to demand access to encrypted iCloud data. This technical rollout avoids sudden data accessibility changes but leaves approximately 23% of UK iCloud users – based on Ofcom’s 2024 digital habits report – without future encryption upgrades. While neither Apple nor the government confirmed the specific notice, internal Home Office documents leaked to the Washington Post revealed demands for “persistent access to E2EE iCloud payloads”. The move, effective on 21 February 2025, marks the first time Apple has withdrawn a security tool from a specific market in response to regulatory pressure. As users grapple with reduced privacy, the episode underscores the complex tradeoffs between national security and technological sovereignty in an interconnected digital world. Nevertheless, this standoff sets a critical precedent in the global encryption debate, balancing state security mandates against digital civil liberties. Cyber Security News is a Dedicated News Platform For Cyber News, Cyber Attack News, Hacking News & Vulnerability Analysis. Without ADP, iCloud data remains protected by standard AES-256 encryption but becomes accessible to Apple under legal warrants. Kaaviya is a Security Editor and fellow reporter with Cyber Security News. According to Apple’s Xcode console logs reviewed by BBC News, existing ADP subscribers will lose access through phased certificate revocation in Q2 2025. ADP, which enables end-to-end encryption (E2EE) for iCloud backups, photos, and notes, has been available to UK customers since December 2022 as an opt-in service. ADP employs elliptic-curve cryptography (ECC) with Curve25519 algorithms to secure data transmission and storage, ensuring only device owners hold decryption keys. The change manifests through error code “ADP-UK403” when UK users attempt to enable the feature post-15:00 GMT on 21 February.
This Cyber News was published on cybersecuritynews.com. Publication date: Mon, 24 Feb 2025 14:20:16 +0000