In response to a UK Government Survey on Access to Datas, which is sequested on Apple devices, Cupertino has removed access to the advanced data protection requirement from UK-Held devices.
“We have never built a back door or master key for any of our products or services, and we will never,” an anonymous Apple representative wrote in a statement sent to TechPublic.
UK wants law enforcement to access data on individual devices, sources claim
At the beginning of February, the Home Office invoked the 2016 Investigative Passports Act to request a way to access the encrypted data held under Apple’s advanced data protection. The Washington Post broke the news based on anonymous sources and said the information was discussed in secret. The law on investigative power provides for law enforcement and intelligence staff for harvest data. The British government has not issued a statement confirming or denying the situation. To state that the government has relied on the action is in itself a criminal act.
See: Apps without contact information for their developers are drawn by Apple from the EU App Store to comply with ACT Digital Services.
According to the BBC, the government would have to follow a legal process to access such data and would probably use them to target individuals who have already been examined instead of broad cuts of the population.
Advanced Data Protection is Apple’s most strict privacy measure
Data stored under Apple’s advanced data protection offers the highest level of protection that the company provides, keeping information hidden even for Apple itself. Users must sign up for advanced data protection as an additional step on top of Apple’s default security measures. According to Washington Post’s first article, “Most” Apple device users do not sign up for advanced data protection.
If a British user has not already signed up for advanced data protection, they will not be able to on February 21, Apple said. Instead, these users will see a message: “Apple can no longer offer Advanced Data Protection (ADP) in the UK to new users.”
Apple said existing users will need to disable the feature manually to continue using iCloud. More guidance for these users are coming.
Other encrypted applications and services from Apple, such as iCloud Keychain, Health, iMessage and Facetime, are not changing.