The UK’s war on Apple encryption is back

The UK government is reportedly renewing its efforts to demand that Apple provide backdoor access to encrypted iCloud user data. A new technical capability notice (TCN) was issued by the UK Home Office in September, targeting access to British citizens' iCloud backups. This follows a broader secret order issued in January, which Apple had successfully appealed against and responded by removing the end-to-end encrypted iCloud storage feature, Advanced Data Protection, from the UK. While the UK had previously agreed to drop its mandate for Apple to provide a backdoor, following pressure from the US, the Financial Times reports that the UK is no longer facing US pressure to drop its demands. The UK's renewed attempt to bypass Apple's data encryption has sparked concerns that security and privacy may still be impacted for users worldwide, as any vulnerability created can be exploited by various actors.