U.K. Backtracks on Apple Back Door Request, EU to Accept Apple’s Revised DMA Approach, U.S. Anti-Steering Injunction Ruling Looks Even More Absurd
Hello everyone. We will begin to attack our “to discuss” list with two stories involving Apple in Europe. In what feels like an outlier these days, Apple actually managed to secure some political wins.
Let’s jump in to discuss.
U.K. Backtracks on Apple Back Door Request
While services like Messages and FaceTime are end-to-end encrypted, such protection historically was not maintained when data was stored in the cloud. For example, iCloud backups allowed such data to be accessed via U.S. search warrants. In 2022, Apple unveiled Advanced Data Protection (ADP), an opt-in feature, which brought end-to-end encryption to additional Apple ecosystem features including iCloud backups. iCloud Mail, Contacts, and Calendars are not part of ADP.
ADP likely played a role in the U.K. wanting Apple to build a backdoor so that the government can access content from any Apple user, regardless of location. Apple pulled ADP in the U.K. in what was a calculated move. U.S. lawmakers and government officials raised concerns.
Six months later, the U.K. officials changed their mind.
Here’s Reuters:
“Britain has dropped its demand for the iPhone maker Apple to provide a ‘backdoor’ that would have enabled access to the protected encrypted data of American citizens, U.S. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said.
Gabbard issued the statement on X on Monday in the U.S., saying she had worked for months with Britain, along with President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance, to arrive at a deal…
A spokesperson for the British government said on Tuesday that while they would not comment on any agreement, Britain had long worked with the U.S. to tackle security threats while seeking to protect the privacy of citizens in both countries.
We will always take all actions necessary at the domestic level to keep UK citizens safe,’ the spokesperson added.”
This is a big win for Apple and its customers around the world.
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