Apple Drops iCloud's Advanced Data Protection in the U.K. Amid Encryption Backdoor Demands - Related to backdoor, privacy, tech, police, threaten

Apple Drops iCloud's Advanced Data Protection in the U.K. Amid Encryption Backdoor Demands

Apple is removing its Advanced Data Protection (ADP) feature for iCloud from the United Kingdom with immediate effect following government demands for backdoor access to encrypted user data.

ADP for iCloud is an optional setting that ensures that consumers' trusted devices retain sole access to the encryption keys used to unlock data stored in its cloud. This includes iCloud Backup, Photos, Notes, Reminders, Safari Bookmarks, voice memos, and data associated with its own apps.

"We are gravely disappointed that the protections provided by ADP will not be available to our consumers in the UK given the continuing rise of data breaches and other threats to customer privacy," the organization was quoted as saying to Bloomberg.

"ADP protects iCloud data with end-to-end encryption, which means the data can only be decrypted by the user who owns it, and only on their trusted devices."

clients who are already using ADP will need to manually disable it for an as-yet-unspecified period of time, per the investigation, as Apple "does not have the ability to automatically disable it on their behalf."

The unprecedented development comes merely weeks after reports emerged that the [website] government had ordered Apple to build a backdoor to access any Apple user's iCloud content.

Per The Washington Post, the demand, issued by the [website] Home Office under the Investigatory Powers Act (IPA) aka the Snoopers' Charter, "requires blanket capability to view fully encrypted material, not merely assistance in cracking a specific account."

With the removal of ADP in the region, Apple now only offers standard data protection for iCloud, which encrypts clients' data but stores the encryption keys in its own data centers, thereby making it accessible to law enforcement subject to a warrant.

Last week, [website] Senator Ron Wyden and Member of Congress Andy Biggs sent a letter to Tulsi Gabbard, the Director of National Intelligence, urging the [website] to retract its order, citing it threatens the privacy and security of both the American people and the [website] government.

"If the [website] does not immediately reverse this dangerous effort, we urge you to reevaluate [website] cybersecurity arrangements and programs as well as [website] intelligence sharing with the [website]," they added.

Law enforcement agencies from 19 countries have arrested 25 suspects linked to a criminal ring that was distributing child sexual abuse material (CSAM......

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A dataset used to train large language models (LLMs) has been found to contain nearly 12,000 live secrets, which allow for successful authentication.

Privacy tech firms warn France’s encryption and VPN laws threaten privacy

Privacy-focused email provider Tuta (previously Tutanota) and the VPN Trust Initiative (VTI) are raising concerns over proposed laws in France set to backdoor encrypted messaging systems and restrict internet access.

The first case concerns a proposed amendment to France's "Narcotrafic" law, which would compel providers of encrypted communication services to implement backdoors, enabling law enforcement to access decrypted messages of suspected criminals within 72 hours of a request.

Non-compliance could result in substantial fines: €[website] million for individuals and up to 2% of annual global turnover for companies.

The law has not yet been put into effect, but the amendment has already passed the French Senate and is advancing to the National Assembly, so mounting opposition is crucial.

In a new statement, Tuta urges the French National Assembly to reject this amendment, advocating for the preservation of robust encryption to protect individual privacy and security.

They stressed once again that mandating backdoors in software undermines the security and privacy of all individuals, not just criminals, as it creates vulnerabilities exploitable by malicious actors.

"A backdoor for the good guys only is a dangerous illusion," Tuta Mail's CEO, Matthias Pfau, told BleepingComputer.

"Weakening encryption for law enforcement inevitably creates vulnerabilities that can – and will – be exploited by cybercriminals and hostile foreign actors. This law would not just target criminals, it would destroy security for everyone."

Earlier this week, VTI issued a strong statement on a law amendment in France driven by rightsholders Canal+ and the French Football League (LFP), who have initiated legal actions to compel VPN providers to block access to pirate sites and services.

VTI, whose members include AWS, Google, Cloudflare, Namecheap, OVH, IPVanish VPN, Ivacy VPN, NordVPN, PureVPN, and ExpressVPN, sees this as wrongful targeting of VPN services and urges French authorities to reconsider their approach.

"Focusing on content-neutral tools like VPNs rather than addressing the findings of illegal content not only fails to combat piracy but creates and inflicts collateral damage to cybersecurity and privacy, putting individuals at risk," stated VTI.

In the letter it , the VTI draws parallels with overly aggressive internet blocking laws in China, Russia, Myanmar, and Iran, characterizing the proposal as a potential "weapon for censorship."

The latest news about sweeping law proposals in France confirms a rising trend of government action aimed at imposing closer control and monitoring of data flows over the internet.

Last week, Apple decided to pull its iCloud end-to-end encryption feature, Advanced Data Protection (ADP), from the UK following a secret order from the government demanding the creation of a backdoor to access user data.

A similar law proposed in Sweden is poised to grant law enforcement agencies access to consumers' message history from apps like Signal. However, Signal's President Meredith Whittaker noted in a recent interview that this law would force them to pull their service out of the country.

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Police arrests suspects tied to AI-generated CSAM distribution ring

Law enforcement agencies from 19 countries have arrested 25 suspects linked to a criminal ring that was distributing child sexual abuse material (CSAM) generated using artificial intelligence (AI).

Operation Cumberland, coordinated by Danish law enforcement and supported by Europol, resulted in the seizure of 173 electronic devices and the identification of 273 suspected members tied to the criminal network.

Most individuals arrested during this joint action were apprehended on February 26, 2025, following 33 house searches around the world.

In November 2024, authorities arrested the main suspect, a Danish national, for distributing AI-generated content created through an online platform. Those who wanted to use the suspects' service could obtain a password to access the platform after making a symbolic online payment to watch AI-generated content featuring children being abused.

"These artificially generated images are so easily created that they can be produced by individuals with criminal intent, even without substantial technical knowledge," stated Catherine De Bolle, Europol's Executive Director. "This contributes to the growing prevalence of child sexual abuse material, and as the volume increases, it becomes progressively more challenging for investigators to identify offenders or victims."

Europol has established and led the Stop Child Abuse – Trace An Object initiative since 2017, enabling people to provide information that can help cases of child sexual abuse by recognizing objects linked to the investigations.

The initiative helped identify 30 victims until November 2023, allowing law enforcement agents to arrest six offenders, who were prosecuted based on information provided by almost 28,000 tips.

Australian Federal Police also launched its own version of the Stop Child Abuse initiative in March 2021, focusing on the Asia Pacific region.

"Europol and its partners will launch an online campaign in the coming days highlighting the consequences of using AI for illegal purposes and targeting potential offenders where they are most active: online," Europol added on Friday. "The campaign will use online messages to reach buyers of illegal content, as well as other methods such as knock-and-talks, social media messages and warning letters."

This week, Microsoft also named multiple threat actors linked to a global cybercrime gang (tracked as Storm-2139), who are accused of creating malicious tools designed to bypass generative AI guardrails to generate illicit content including celebrity deepfakes.

Apple is removing its Advanced Data Protection (ADP) feature for iCloud from the United Kingdom with immediate effect following government demands for......

Mit verschlüsselten Daten zu arbeiten, ohne sie entschlüsseln zu müssen, klingt unmöglich. Und doch bietet die homomorphe Verschlüsselung genau diese ......

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