Two-tier encryption in the UK
Points and comments are a snapshot, not live.
UK government secretly ordered Apple to create iCloud encryption backdoor.
The UK issued a Technical Capability Notice (TCN) under the Investigatory Powers Act 2016, ordering Apple to provide access to end-to-end encrypted iCloud data worldwide. Apple withdrew Advanced Data Protection for new UK users in February 2025 rather than comply. Existing ADP users kept protection; new users cannot enable it, creating two-tier encryption. Apple challenged the gag order in the Investigatory Powers Tribunal in 2026, arguing the secrecy undermines democratic oversight.
What commenters are saying
Several commenters argue few UK citizens care about this issue, with one claiming less than 1% will remember it in five years. Others discuss workarounds: changing Apple ID region to the US to enable ADP then reverting, though this is complicated by subscriptions and region-change limits. One commenter suggests the Apple-vs-FBI narrative was a constructed fiction to protect Apple's brand, noting the US government already had iCloud access via PRISM and FAA702 orders.