Earlier this month the Home Office served Apple a request under the Investigatory Powers Act, which compels firms to provide information to law enforcement agencies, asking for the right to see users’ encrypted data, which currently not even Apple can access.
Apple has taken the unprecedented step of removing its strongest data security tool from customers in the UK, after the government demanded “backdoor” access to user data.
He said Apple was sending a message that “you cannot weaken encryption for your enemies without weakening it for your friends”, and that all the government could achieve would be to make its applications less secure for UK users, while obtaining no benefit for intelligence operations.
UK users will now be more vulnerable to data breaches from bad actors, and other threats to customer privacy, Apple said.
Apple said: “We are gravely disappointed that the protections provided by ADP will not be available to our customers in the UK given the continuing rise of data breaches and other threats to customer privacy.
