Apple announced it will begin monitoring iCloud links shared with the "Anyone with the Link" setting, starting in iOS 27.3. The company says it may remove flagged content, disable accounts, block new account creation tied to the same email or phone number, and involve law enforcement for violations of its harmful content policy. Links restricted to specific approved people remain end-to-end encrypted and are not subject to this scanning.
zdnet.com
· 2026-11-06
Apple pulled its opt-in Advanced Data Protection feature for new UK iCloud users in February 2025, leaving anyone who enabled it beforehand with full end-to-end encryption on most iCloud data while everyone else in the UK cannot activate it. The piece traces this back to Apple's decade-long fight against government backdoor demands, including its 2016 standoff with the FBI over the San Bernardino iPhone.
macanorak.com
· 2026-09-24
Apple appeared before a UK court seeking to overturn secrecy rules that bar it from confirming whether the government has ordered access to encrypted iCloud data. The case follows reports that Britain had secretly demanded a backdoor into encrypted iCloud content, a demand Apple responded to by pulling Advanced Data Protection for new UK users rather than weakening encryption globally. After the U.S. government pushed back, Britain narrowed its original worldwide request but later issued a fresh notice aimed specifically at UK-based Apple users.
9to5mac.com
· 2026-09-17
Senator Ron Wyden and Congressman Warren Davidson sent a letter to Britain's Investigatory Powers Tribunal demanding it stop concealing details of Apple's dispute with the UK government over encrypted iCloud data. The case began when the Home Office ordered Apple to build backdoor access to encrypted backups worldwide, prompting Apple to pull its Advanced Data Protection feature for UK users; the tribunal later dismissed Apple's challenge after the UK narrowed its demand to British users only.
news.slashdot.org
· 2026-09-11
GoKawiil