Apple Says Halting Data Protection Tool For UK Users

Apple said on Friday it was ending full end-to-end encryption for British customers and iPhone users, following US media reports the UK government had asked for global data access.

"Apple can no longer offer Advanced Data Protection (ADP) in the United Kingdom to new users and current UK users will eventually need to disable this security feature," it said in a statement.

ADP means only account holders can view content such as photos and documents stored online and in the cloud through what is known as end-to-end encryption.

The Washington Post reported earlier this month that the UK had issued "a secret government order" that Apple create a "back door" to enable the government to snoop on data uploaded by any Apple user around the world.

Many tech platforms pride themselves on being able to guarantee privacy through encrypted messaging channels, and providing access to law enforcement has long been seen as off-limits.

"As we have said many times before, we have never built a backdoor or master key to any of our products or services and we never will," Apple said on Friday.

The UK's interior ministry told AFP: "We do not comment on operational matters."

But a British official, who asked to remain anonymous, told the Post, that the right to privacy was not absolute, that "lawful access" systems can be made secure.

UK officials have argued that strong encryption can protect terror suspects and other criminals such as child abusers.

The UK request to Apple was made under a sweeping 2016 law which enables the police and authorities force companies to comply with orders to collect evidence in criminal cases, the Post said.

The California-based tech giant, which is also the maker of Mac computers, added it was "gravely disappointed that the protections provided by ADP will not be available to our customers in the UK given the continuing rise of data breaches and other threats to customer privacy".

End-to-end encryption stops law enforcement from intercepting messages, with only the sender and recipient able to read their contents.

Police officials worldwide say encryption can protect criminals, terrorists and pornographers even when authorities have a legal warrant for an investigation.

But civil rights and privacy advocates, along with cybersecurity professionals, advocate encrypting data to protect against wrongful snooping by authorities as well as hackers.

One of the main tech lobbying groups, the Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA) said Friday's events were "a worrying step backwards".

"Law enforcement authorities should be working with companies to help protect people's privacy against growing global threats, not forcing them to scrap important security improvements," said CCIA senior director Matthew Sinclair.

Apple said it remained "committed to offering our users the highest level of security for their personal data and are hopeful that we will be able to do so in the future" in the UK.