How end-to-end encryption will and won't change for Apple users in the UK

By Mark Gurman

 

Apple Inc. took the unprecedented step of disabling optional Advanced Data Protection in the UK on Friday, removing a feature that used end-to-end encryption to secure cloud storage and other features.  

The move came in response to a recent order from the UK government, which asked the iPhone maker to build a backdoor for global access to user data. Apple declined to build such a mechanism. Instead, it disabled its advanced protection feature, a step that could potentially make it easier for the government — or outside hackers — to obtain user data.

What Will Change

The big shift for UK users is that they will no longer be able to enable end-to-end encryption for iCloud backups, iCloud Drive, photos, notes, reminders, web browser bookmarks, Siri shortcuts, voice memos and passes in the Wallet app. It essentially returns those customers to the state they were in before the end of 2022, when Apple started rolling out Advanced Data Protection. 

 

 

Users will only have standard encryption for those features, meaning the data is secure in transit and on Apple servers. The access key, meanwhile, is stored by the company. It also means that Apple, hackers or a government could theoretically pry their way into that information. 

What Won’t Change

But there’s still a lot that won’t change in the UK or globally. The company is retaining end-to-end encryption by default for health information, passwords, Screen Time data, information in the Maps apps, data in Safari, digital journal content, Apple Card transaction history and payment information, smart home data, and messages in iCloud. Core Apple services on the iPhone, including iMessage and FaceTime, also retain end-to-end encryption.

What Is End-to-End Encryption?

Instead of Apple storing the access keys to unlock information, they are kept on a user’s devices. That makes it more difficult for a hacker to remotely gain entry to the data or for Apple to provide access to a government.

 

Even with Advanced Data Protection, Apple never offered end-to-end encryption for the three core iCloud apps: Mail, Contacts and Calendar. That stance remains unchanged. Bloomberg News previously published a guide to enabling Advanced Data Protection, an option that remains available outside of the UK.