Trump admin examines whether UK violated CLOUD Act by forcing Apple to kill end-to-end encryption

The Trump administration is examining whether the UK broke a bilateral agreement by reportedly demanding that Apple either build a “backdoor” or cease to offer end-to-end iCloud encryption in order to allow the British government to access backups of users’ personal data in its iCloud storage system.
Stephen Nellis for Reuters:
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Apple last week withdrew an encrypted storage feature for UK users, after reports that it had refused to create such a backdoor allowing access to messages and photos even for users outside the country.
In a letter dated February 25 to two U.S. lawmakers, Tulsi Gabbard, the U.S. Director of National Intelligence, said the U.S. is examining whether the UK government had violated the CLOUD Act, which bars it from issuing demands for the data of U.S. citizens and vice versa.
“My lawyers are working to provide a legal opinion on the implications of the reported U.K. demands against Apple on the bilateral CLOUD Act agreement,” Gabbard wrote to U.S. Ron Wyden, an Oregon Democrat, and Rep. Andy Biggs, an Arizona Republican. “Upon initial review of the U.S. and U.K. bilateral CLOUD Act Agreement, the United Kingdom may not issue demands for data of U.S. citizens, nationals, or lawful permanent residents (“U.S. persons”), nor is it authorized to demand the data of persons located inside the United States.”

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MacDailyNews Take: As we wrote nearly a decade ago:
It’s not enough that every Brit alive has a government camera shoved up their ass 24/7/365? The UK has already slipped far down the slope that they ought to rename the place Airstrip One. – MacDailyNews, November 3, 2015
Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. – Benjamin Franklin
The current batshit insane “leadership” of Airstrip One is having yet another crisis of confidence. – MacDailyNews, February 7, 2025
Censorship reflects a society’s lack of confidence in itself. – Potter Stewart
MacDailyNews Note: Apple’s Advanced Data Protection for iCloud is an optional setting that offers Apple’s highest level of cloud data security. If you choose to enable Advanced Data Protection, the majority of your iCloud data — including iCloud Backup, Photos, Notes, and more — is protected using end-to-end encryption. No one else can access your end-to-end encrypted data, not even Apple, and this data remains secure even in the case of a data breach in the cloud.
How to turn on Advanced Data Protection for iCloud
On Mac

Choose Apple menu  > System Settings.
Click your name, then click iCloud.
Click Advanced Data Protection, then click Turn On.
Follow the onscreen instructions to review your recovery methods and enable Advanced Data Protection.

On iPhone and iPad

Open the Settings app.
Tap your name, then tap iCloud.
Scroll down, tap Advanced Data Protection, then tap Turn on Advanced Data Protection.
Follow the onscreen instructions to review your recovery methods and enable Advanced Data Protection.

More info about Apple’s Advanced Data Protection for iCloud here.

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