Apple Pulls Advanced Data Protection in the U.K. ⇥ bbc.com

Zoe Kleinman, BBC News:

Apple is taking the unprecedented step of removing its highest level data security tool from customers in the UK, after the government demanded access to user data.

[…]

The ADP service started to be pulled for new users at 1500GMT on Friday. Existing users’ access will be disabled at a later date.

A predictable next step but surely not the last. The U.K. wants access worldwide. Other governments will likely follow the same playbook knowing Apple will respond predictably.

I wonder where else in the world Advanced Data Protection is unavailable. I could not find any documentation about this from Apple. If it is anything like iCloud Private Relay, however, the list is short and not one a country nominally respectful of human rights would like to be on.

One of Apple’s preferred media outlets, 9to5Mac, received a statement and screenshot reflecting this change. Benjamin Mayo:

The law even seems to restrain Apple from publicly commenting on such implications; notice how the company’s statement above does not explicitly say why Apple is having to make these changes.

This is not something the law “seems” to do; it is plainly what the law requires. Still, it is a bizarre statement that only hints in the last sentence at what the U.K. government is demanding.