UK gov’t demand to access Apple users’ data raises civil liberties issues

Second bid this twelvemonth focuses connected UK users; earlier effort included US idiosyncratic data, but was withdrawn nether US pressure.

The British authorities has ordered Apple to manus implicit idiosyncratic information uploaded by its customers to the unreality for the 2nd clip this twelvemonth successful an ongoing privateness enactment that has raised concerns among civilian liberties campaigners.

The Home Office issued a request successful aboriginal September for the tech behemoth to make a alleged backmost doorway that would let the authorities entree to backstage information uploaded by United Kingdom Apple customers aft a erstwhile effort that included customers successful the United States failed, according to a study published connected Wednesday by The Financial Times.

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A erstwhile technical capableness notice (TCN) issued aboriginal this twelvemonth led to a large backlash from the US, which frowns upon overseas entities seeking to modulate Silicon Valley. The medication of US President Donald Trump yet forced the UK to backmost down.

US quality main Tulsi Gabbard said successful August that the medication had wanted to “ensure Americans’ backstage information remains backstage and our law rights and civilian liberties are protected”.

Civil liberties campaigners successful the UK reacted with alarm to the latest bid for entree to encrypted data. “If this caller bid isn’t stopped, the UK Government volition apt contented akin orders to different companies, too,” said London-based radical Privacy International.

It said the UK government, which would beryllium deploying the measurement to support nationalist security, risked “everyone’s security, portion claiming to ‘protect’ people”.

If this caller bid isn’t stopped, the UK Government volition apt contented akin orders to different companies, too.

— Privacy International (@privacyint) October 1, 2025

The Home Office was cited by the FT arsenic saying: “We bash not remark connected operational matters, including, for example, confirming oregon denying the beingness of immoderate specified notices.”

Privacy done encryption is simply a large selling constituent for tech platforms, which person agelong seen providing entree to instrumentality enforcement arsenic a reddish line.

On Wednesday, Apple said it had “never built a backdoor oregon maestro cardinal to immoderate of our products oregon services and we ne'er will”. The institution had appealed against the earlier TCN astatine the UK’s Investigatory Powers Tribunal, the assemblage confirmed successful April.

However, it withdrew afloat end-to-end encryption, known arsenic Advanced Data Protection, for UK users successful February. The diagnostic allows iPhone and Mac users to guarantee that lone they – and not adjacent Apple – tin unlock information stored connected its cloud.

“Apple is inactive incapable to connection Advanced Data Protection successful the United Kingdom to caller users, and existent UK users volition yet request to disable this information feature,” the California-based company said connected Wednesday.

The institution said it was committed to offering users the highest level of security, and it was hopeful it would beryllium capable to bash truthful successful Britain successful the future.

The contention implicit authoritative attempts to snoop connected Apple users comes amid a increasing furore implicit authorities plans to contented digital individuality cards to curb undocumented migration and ward disconnected threats from the right-wing Reform UK party.

The determination raised hackles among civilian liberties groups and citizens successful the UK, wherever the conception of nationalist individuality cards has traditionally been unpopular.