Apple opened a new tab and scraped its most advanced security encryption feature for cloud data in Britain. The company said on Friday that it is an unprecedented response to government demands for access to user data.
The change affects a feature called Advanced Data Protection (ADP), which extends end-to-end encryption across a wide range of cloud data. Apple said it is no longer available in Britain for new users, with those who try to turn it on receiving an error message starting Friday, and that current users will eventually need to disable this security feature.
"Apple's decision to disable the feature for UK users could well be the only reasonable response at this point, but it leaves those people at the mercy of bad actors and deprives them of a key privacy-preserving technology," said Andrew Crocker, surveillance litigation director at the Electronic Frontier Foundation.
