Security and consumer rights experts have urged lawmakers to hold the UK government to account, after Apple removed end-to-end encryption (E2EE) in iCloud following data access demands from the Home Office.

Although the access request was made in secret under the controversial Investigatory Powers Act (IPA), also dubbed the ‘Snooper’s Charter’, it was widely reported as happening earlier this month.

However, as long argued by Apple and other tech companies, it’s impossible to create an E2EE “backdoor” for government and law enforcement without putting all customers at risk.

That’s why Apple has taken the decision to remove the opt-in Advanced Data Protection (ADP) feature for UK customers.

“We are gravely disappointed that the protections provided by ADP will not be available to our customers in the UK given the continuing rise of data breaches and other threats to customer privacy,” Apple said in a statement.

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