UK Government Issues New Order to Access iCloud User Data
The UK government has issued a new request for Apple to provide access to encrypted iCloud user data, the Financial Times reports.
The report reveals that, in early September, the UK Home Office demanded that Apple creates a way for officials to access encrypted iCloud backups. Unlike its previous order, the latest request focuses on the iCloud data of British citizens specifically. The demand is designed to aid law enforcement with investigations into terrorism and child sexual abuse.
The Home Office's previous request from January sought access to encrypted user data worldwide, which triggered a diplomatic clash between the UK and U.S. governments. The Trump administration pressured the UK to discard the order and, in August, director of national intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said that the UK had "agreed to drop" its demand, at least with regards to the encrypted data of American citizens.
In February, Apple withdrew iCloud's Advanced Data Protection feature in the UK and raised public objections to the request. It also registered a complaint with the Investigatory Powers Tribunal and supported a legal challenge from the campaign group Privacy International and Liberty.
Questions remain around whether the Trump administration has relaxed its view of the issue, and whether building a backdoor into encrypted iCloud data for the British government would jeopardize the security of global user data.
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