Report: UK Orders Apple to Allow Access to User Data

Apple is reportedly facing an order from British authorities to give the government a way to access global user data stored in its cloud services.

The authorities asked the tech giant in January, in an undisclosed order, to remove the encryption it uses to secure the data, Bloomberg reported Friday (Feb. 7), citing an unnamed source.

They did so under the U.K.’s Investigatory Powers Act, which allows them to compel companies to remove encryption and makes it illegal for companies to reveal when they have received such an order, according to the report.

A spokesperson for the U.K.’s Home Office told Bloomberg, per the report: “We do not comment on operational matters, including for example confirming or denying the existence of any such notices.”

Apple said in March, when the amendments to the act that would allow these orders were proposed, that it was “deeply concerned” about the amendments, per the report.

“It’s an unprecedented overreach by the government and, if enacted, the U.K. could attempt to secretly veto new user protections globally preventing us from ever offering them to customers,” Apple said at the time.

The company has clashed with other governments over this issue as well. In 2015, the U.S. government used a third party to access the user data of the perpetrator of a high-profile shooter after Apple refused to allow access.

Apple has argued in the past that weakening its encryption would undermine privacy and cybersecurity, while authorities have countered that they need access to user data during national security and criminal investigations, according to the report.

It was reported in 2023 that Apple said it would remove its messaging services FaceTime and iMessage from the U.K. if proposed updates to the Investigatory Powers Act were made law, which required messaging services to clear security features with the Home Office and allowed that office to require that the services disable the features, immediately and without telling the public.

The Home Office said at the time that the proposals were designed to provide protection against criminals.

Apple argued that the proposed requirements would result in “a serious and direct threat to data security and information privacy” for all users, not just those in the U.K.