Advanced Data Protection, an essential data security feature for iCloud storage, will no longer be available to Apple customers in the United Kingdom. Although it is a relatively minor change, privacy experts are concerned that it may have global implications for data privacy. Last week, Apple announced that the optional end-to-end encryption feature, which helps to ensure that only users can access their own personal data like photos and messages, would no longer be available to customers. Most people thought that the move was a way to avoid giving in to the British government’s request for a technical “back door” to access user data. Experts say that the situation still has the potential to set an example for other governments that want to violate user privacy. “This has always been one of our major concerns,” said Caroline Wilson, general counsel at based nonprofit Privacy International. “The fact that the government… is setting a bad precedent for other governments around the world.”
Apple said in a statement that it is “gravely disappointed” to no longer offer the feature to users, “given the continuing rise of data breaches and other threats to customer privacy.”
However, experts claim that the company had no choice.