Under Government Pressure, Apple Pulls Security Feature in Britain

Law enforcement in the country was pressuring the company to create a tool that would act like a back door into customers’ data.

Two years after Apple introduced an encrypted storage feature for iPhone users, the company is pulling those security protections in Britain rather than comply with a government request that it create a tool to give law enforcement organizations access to customers’ cloud data.

Starting on Friday, iPhone users in Britain will begin seeing a message on their phones saying Apple can no longer offer its Advanced Data Protection feature. The capability allowed users to encrypt almost all of their iCloud data, making messages, notes, photos and iPhone backups indecipherable, even when the information was stored in cloud computing centers.

Apple is removing the feature after the British government demanded the company create a back door that would allow intelligence agencies and law enforcement officials to retrieve iPhone user data from data centers around the world, according to two people familiar with the request, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the British government’s demand.

The government request came in a secret order early this year, after Britain amended its Investigatory Powers Act of 2016, which allows it to compel companies to turn over data and communications to law enforcement and intelligence agencies.

Last year, Apple protested the amendments in a submission to Parliament, saying it could give the British government power to issue secret orders to break encryption services and create a back door into software products.

By eliminating the feature, Apple hopes that the British government will drop its request that it create a back door to users’ cloud data, the people said. But there is a chance that the British government could continue to press for that access, arguing that people who might use the service overseas pose a threat to British interest.