{"id":49458,"date":"2025-10-01T16:24:20","date_gmt":"2025-10-01T20:24:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/?p=49458"},"modified":"2026-08-04T14:44:50","modified_gmt":"2026-08-04T18:44:50","slug":"uk-again-wants-icloud-backdoor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/2025\/10\/01\/uk-again-wants-icloud-backdoor\/","title":{"rendered":"UK Again Wants iCloud Backdoor"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/news\/789985\/apple-uk-revived-secret-order-encryption-backdoor\">Jess Weatherbed<\/a> (<a href=\"https:\/\/news.ycombinator.com\/item?id=45440226\">Hacker News<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/r\/privacy\/comments\/1nvabm3\/uk_government_issues_new_order_to_access_icloud\/\">Reddit<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.macrumors.com\/2025\/10\/01\/uk-issues-new-order-for-icloud-data\/\">MacRumors<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/9to5mac.com\/2025\/10\/01\/the-british-government-is-still-insisting-apple-has-to-create-a-backdoor-into-icloud\/\">9to5Mac<\/a>):<\/p>\n<blockquote cite=\"https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/news\/789985\/apple-uk-revived-secret-order-encryption-backdoor\"><p>The UK government is reportedly once again demanding that Apple provide it with backdoor access to encrypted iCloud user data, following claims that the effort had been abandoned in August. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ft.com\/content\/d101fd62-14f9-4f51-beff-ea41e8794265\"><em>The Financial Times<\/em><\/a> reports that a new technical capability notice (TCN) was issued by the UK Home Office in early September, this time specifically targeting access to British citizens&rsquo; iCloud backups.<\/p><p>[&#8230;]<\/p><p>While US officials raised concerns about the order during President Trump&rsquo;s state visit to the UK last month, according to <em>The Financial Times<\/em>, the publication reports that two senior British government figures said the UK was no longer facing US pressure to drop its demands.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/dafacto\/status\/1973355594758115614\">Matt Henderson<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote cite=\"https:\/\/x.com\/dafacto\/status\/1973355594758115614\">\n<p>Just returned from the UK, where a digital ID is about to be enforced on all adults. Soon, my Signal messages may be scanned. Financial policing co-opted to the institutions with KYC and draconian source-of-funds investigation.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n<p>Previously:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/2025\/07\/28\/uk-online-safety-act\/\">UK Online Safety Act<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/2025\/07\/21\/uk-backing-down-on-apple-encryption-backdoor\/\">UK Backing Down on Apple Encryption Backdoor<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/2025\/04\/03\/france-rejects-backdoor-mandate\/\">France Rejects Backdoor Mandate<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/2025\/02\/25\/fbi-also-wants-to-break-icloud-advanced-data-protection\/\">FBI Also Wants to Break iCloud Advanced Data Protection<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/2025\/02\/21\/apple-pulls-icloud-advanced-data-protection-from-uk\/\">Apple Pulls iCloud Advanced Data Protection From UK<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/2025\/02\/07\/uk-orders-apple-to-break-icloud-advanced-data-protection\/\">UK Orders Apple to Break iCloud Advanced Data Protection<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/2024\/06\/04\/proposed-eu-chat-control\/\">Proposed EU Chat Control<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/2020\/01\/21\/apple-dropped-plans-for-end-to-end-encrypted-icloud-backups-after-fbi-objected\/\">Apple Dropped Plans for End-to-End Encrypted iCloud Backups After FBI Objected<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n<p id=\"uk-again-wants-icloud-backdoor-update-2025-10-04\">Update (<a href=\"#uk-again-wants-icloud-backdoor-update-2025-10-04\">2025-10-04<\/a>): <a href=\"https:\/\/pxlnv.com\/linklog\/uk-icloud-adp-redux\/\">Nick Heer<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote cite=\"https:\/\/pxlnv.com\/linklog\/uk-icloud-adp-redux\/\">\n<p>Reporters like <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/08\/19\/technology\/britain-apple-back-door.html\">Tripp Mickle<\/a>, at the <em>New York Times<\/em>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/technology\/2025\/08\/19\/uk-apple-backdoor-data-privacy-gabbard\/\">Annabelle Timsit and Joseph Menn<\/a>, of the <em>Washington Post<\/em>, were too eager to claim the U.K. would wholly abandon its pursuit of customer data. Neither allowed for different interpretations of Gabbard&rsquo;s tweet. Journalists like these have sources who could have offered clarity. It is unclear in either article whether they did reach out to their contacts; if they did, their stories were misleading even with &mdash; or perhaps because of &mdash; that information.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/support.apple.com\/en-us\/122234\">Apple<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote cite=\"https:\/\/support.apple.com\/en-us\/122234\"><p>Withdrawing <a href=\"https:\/\/www.apple.com\/newsroom\/2022\/12\/apple-advances-user-security-with-powerful-new-data-protections\/\">Advanced Data Protection<\/a> from the UK will not affect the <a href=\"https:\/\/support.apple.com\/en-us\/102651\">15 iCloud data categories<\/a> that are end-to-end encrypted by default. Data like iCloud Keychain and Health remains protected with full end-to-end encryption.<\/p><p>Our communication services, like iMessage and FaceTime, remain end-to-end encrypted globally, including in the UK.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>We&rsquo;re back to the same situation as before, where Apple insists that iMessage is E2EE, which is technically true for the iMessage service. But unless you and everyone you message with opts out of iCloud Backup, Apple stores the encryption key and can access all of your message data.<\/p>\n\n<blockquote cite=\"https:\/\/support.apple.com\/en-us\/122234\"><p>For users in the UK who already enabled Advanced Data Protection, Apple will soon provide additional guidance. Apple cannot disable ADP automatically for these users. Instead, UK users will be given a period of time to disable the feature themselves to keep using their iCloud account.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>So Apple is currently not complying in full, but it plans to.<\/p>\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/bsky.app\/profile\/0x0.boo\/post\/3m262lj734k2i\">0x0.boo<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote cite=\"https:\/\/bsky.app\/profile\/0x0.boo\/post\/3m262lj734k2i\"><p>&#xE0001;&#xE007F;It&rsquo;s probably the TCN&rsquo;s that are in place, that you don&rsquo;t know about, that are the current biggest threat.<\/p><p>That&rsquo;s not to take away anything from this new TCN, or make light of it, it&rsquo;s a big deal.<\/p><p>But think about what&rsquo;s likely already in place with other companies as you go about your business.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n<p>Previously:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/2021\/01\/14\/reminder-imessage-not-meaningfully-e2e\/\">Reminder: iMessage Not Meaningfully E2E<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n<p id=\"uk-again-wants-icloud-backdoor-update-2026-08-04\">Update (<a href=\"#uk-again-wants-icloud-backdoor-update-2026-08-04\">2026-08-04<\/a>): <a href=\"https:\/\/9to5mac.com\/2026\/08\/03\/apple-launches-second-legal-challenge-to-uk-icloud-backdoor-order-per-report\/\">Zac Hall<\/a> (<a href=\"https:\/\/it.slashdot.org\/story\/26\/08\/04\/0557231\/apple-launches-legal-challenge-against-uk-demand-to-access-encrypted-user-data\">Slashdot<\/a>):<\/p>\n<blockquote cite=\"https:\/\/9to5mac.com\/2026\/08\/03\/apple-launches-second-legal-challenge-to-uk-icloud-backdoor-order-per-report\/\">\n<p>Apple&rsquo;s effort to fight back against a UK-mandated &ldquo;backdoor&rdquo; to encryption continues, according to a new <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ft.com\/content\/2cc9c96a-0e5b-4c33-a95a-3d11072a145c?accessToken=zwAAAZ_H-qRHkc8syclqDltMM9OpWj0RByoUXA.MEQCIE-jvgdcJmrdNPiyat35GQYDCGYwPTq8YxISfiUpEbmSAiBCiDhS2xmGFPqmlWJv6K0O9UQgdkoPGYGr8Rl0iyG_pQ&amp;segmentId=e95a9ae7-622c-6235-5f87-51e412b47e97&amp;shareId=361c8c8c-4fb5-47fc-84a6-486b88bf5cc8&amp;shareType=enterprise&amp;syn-25a6b1a6=1\">Financial Times<\/a><\/em> report.<\/p>\n<p>Tim Bradshaw reports that Apple filed a new legal challenge in July against an attempt by the UK government to force access to encrypted user data.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/appleinsider.com\/articles\/26\/08\/03\/uk-faces-new-legal-fight-from-apple-over-backdoor-access-to-icloud-data\">William Gallagher<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote cite=\"https:\/\/appleinsider.com\/articles\/26\/08\/03\/uk-faces-new-legal-fight-from-apple-over-backdoor-access-to-icloud-data\">\n<p>Apple&rsquo;s new filing was reportedly submitted to the IPT in July 2026. It&rsquo;s in response to the UK&rsquo;s use of what is called a &ldquo;technical capability notice,&rdquo; which while it also demands a backdoor, it would ostensibly be one that did not affect Americans.<\/p>\n<p>Whatever the UK&rsquo;s attempts to mollify the US over this issue, however, the fact remains that any backdoor into iOS would be exploited by bad actors. Access to user data of non-Americans would invariably uncover US data that has been shared with them, too.<\/p>\n<p>So this latest move by the UK is identical to the first attempt in all but name. Neither Apple nor the UK&rsquo;s Home Office is legally allowed to comment publicly on the case, but both sides have now issued general statements.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/pxlnv.com\/linklog\/apple-uk-icloud-backdoor-complaint\/\">Nick Heer<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote cite=\"https:\/\/pxlnv.com\/linklog\/apple-uk-icloud-backdoor-complaint\/\">\n<p>As a reminder, this is different from the <a href=\"https:\/\/pxlnv.com\/linklog\/uk-encrypted-icloud-access\/\">order made in February last year<\/a> that would have demanded Apple create a backdoor to encrypted iCloud data globally. The current order reportedly applies <a href=\"https:\/\/pxlnv.com\/linklog\/uk-icloud-adp-redux\/\">just in the U.K.<\/a>, so this is effectively a domestic issue there.<\/p>\n<p>[&#8230;]<\/p>\n<p>Apple has not again made Advanced Data Protection available to U.K. iCloud users.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n<p>Previously:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/2026\/01\/13\/uk-child-protections-and-messaging-backdoor\/\">UK Child Protections and Messaging Backdoor<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Jess Weatherbed (Hacker News, Reddit, MacRumors, 9to5Mac): The UK government is reportedly once again demanding that Apple provide it with backdoor access to encrypted iCloud user data, following claims that the effort had been abandoned in August. The Financial Times reports that a new technical capability notice (TCN) was issued by the UK Home Office [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"apple_news_api_created_at":"2025-10-01T20:24:22Z","apple_news_api_id":"01e7df6e-b931-4473-9589-24d2ecd1cac0","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2026-08-04T18:44:55Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABg==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/AAeffbrkxRHOViSTS7NHKwA","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[38,16,2729,140,2741,209,355,2166],"class_list":["post-49458","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-technology","tag-apple","tag-icloud","tag-icloud-advanced-data-protection","tag-imessage","tag-ios-26","tag-legal","tag-privacy","tag-united-kingdom"],"apple_news_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49458","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49458"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49458\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":52830,"href":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49458\/revisions\/52830"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49458"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49458"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49458"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}