The UK sought access to far more iCloud data than previously understood, exceeding protections offered by Apple's Advanced Data Protection and prompting Apple to withdraw the feature in the UK. The UK demands access to all grades of iCloud storage and asserts those obligations apply globally to relevant data categories of all iCloud users. This could permit British law enforcement to access Apple customers' data anywhere in the world, including the US. The proposed access would allow collection of data, emails, and passwords with limited protection, transparency, or oversight, raising concerns about extraterritorial reach and authoritarian overreach affecting users regardless of location.
The report also confirms that the UK wanted access to much more data than we thought - far more than the information protected by the Advanced Data Protection feature that Apple withdrew from offering in the UK as it grappled with the government's overreach. According to the Financial Times, the UK is demanding access to all grades of iCloud storage, and these demands extend globally:
"The obligations... are not limited to the UK or users of the service in the UK; they apply globally in respect of the relevant data categories of all iCloud users," the IPT filing states. This hypothetically gives British law enforcement the right to access the data of Apple customers anywhere in the world, including the US.
Collection
[
|
...
]