Category: Cyber Security | Published: 2025-09-03
How the Row Began
The confrontation began late last year when the UK Home Office issued Apple with a _“technical capability notice”_ under the Investigatory Powers Act. This law (also known as the _“snooper’s charter”_) allows the government to compel technology companies to assist law enforcement in accessing data to investigate serious crimes such as terrorism and child sexual abuse.
The notice required Apple to make encrypted customer data available to authorities on demand. What made it unusual was its global scope, i.e. the order applied not just to British customers but potentially to Apple users anywhere in the world, including in the United States.
The demand clashed directly with Apple’s Advanced Data Protection (ADP) tool, launched in 2022, which provides end-to-end encryption for iCloud backups. Once activated, not even Apple itself can access the contents of a user’s iCloud files, photos, notes or reminders. For law enforcement, this meant some data would be completely beyond reach. For Apple, complying with the UK’s order would have meant deliberately undermining its own encryption.