UK Still Demanding Global Access to iCloud User Data, Filings Suggest

The UK government's concealed request for Apple to make backdoor entree to encrypted idiosyncratic information was acold broader than antecedently known, reports the Financial Times. British officials didn't conscionable privation to interruption Apple's Advanced Data Protection feature, but sought to pat a swathe of modular iCloud services utilized by millions worldwide.


New tribunal filings published connected Wednesday by the Investigatory Powers Tribunal (IPC) amusement the Home Office's method capableness announcement (TCN) "is not constricted to" Apple's Advanced Data Protection feature, reports the FT. The bid besides included requirements for Apple to "provide and support a capableness to disclose categories of information stored wrong a cloud-based backup service," suggesting the UK wanted entree to backed-up messages and passwords.

Perhaps astir significantly, the tribunal papers states that "the obligations included successful the TCN are not constricted to the UK oregon users of the work successful the UK; they use globally successful respect of the applicable information categories of each iCloud users."

The revelation comes aft Trump medication officials claimed past week that the UK had agreed to drop its encryption demands pursuing unit from the U.S. manager of nationalist quality Tulsi Gabbard and vice president JD Vance. However, the caller filing suggests the Home Office has yet to formally modify oregon rescind its planetary information entree demands.

Apple withdrew its Advanced Data Protection (ADP) diagnostic from UK customers successful February aft receiving the concealed authorities order, but the tribunal documents connote this was lone the extremity of the iceberg. ADP provides end-to-end encryption for further iCloud categories similar Photos, Notes, and instrumentality backups, portion modular iCloud already encrypts information successful transit and astatine remainder but allows Apple to entree it with due ineligible requests.

The lawsuit is arguably the astir important encryption conflict since Apple's 2016 combat with the FBI implicit unlocking the San Bernardino shooter's iPhone. Apple has consistently maintained that creating backdoors would compromise information for each users and inevitably beryllium exploited by malicious actors.

The IPC volition perceive Apple's ineligible challenge successful unfastened tribunal aboriginal adjacent year, though the UK authorities refuses to corroborate oregon contradict the beingness of the Home Office order. The tribunal has agreed to proceed based connected "assumed facts" to debar participants violating the Official Secrets Act.

One idiosyncratic acquainted with the lawsuit told FT they were "still precise acrophobic this is inactive going on," contempt nationalist statements from U.S. officials astir the UK backing down.
This article, "UK Still Demanding Global Access to iCloud User Data, Filings Suggest" archetypal appeared connected MacRumors.com

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