Apple Pulls Advanced Data Protection in the UK with Matt Green and Joe Hall

Security Cryptography Whatever

Apple has pulled the availability of their opt-in iCloud end-to-end encryption feature, called Advanced Data Protection, in the UK. This doesn't only affect UK Apple users, however.
To help us make sense of this surprising move from the fruit company, we got Matt Green, Associate Professor at Johns Hopkins, and Joe Hall, Distinguished Technologist at the Internet Society, on the horn.

Recorded Saturday February 22nd, 2025.

Transcript: https://securitycryptographywhatever.com/2025/02/24/apple-pulls-adp-in-uk/
Watch episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/LAn_yOGUkR0

Links:

- https://www.lawfaremedia.org/article/apples-cloud-key-vault-and-secure-law-enforcement-access
- https://www.androidcentral.com/how-googles-backup-encryption-works-good-bad-and-ugly
- https://gdpr.eu/right-to-be-forgotten/
- https://www.legislation.gov.uk/id/ukpga/2024/9
- https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/17/technology/apple-china-censorship-data.html
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salt_Typhoon
- Salt Typhoon: https://www.cisa.gov/news-events/news/strengthening-americas-resilience-against-prc-cyber-threats
- https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-02-21/apple-removes-end-to-end-encryption-feature-from-uk-after-backdoor-order
- https://support.apple.com/en-us/102651
"Security Cryptography Whatever" is hosted by Deirdre Connolly (@durumcrustulum), Thomas Ptacek (@tqbf), and David Adrian (@davidcadrian)

Chapters

1. Introduction to Security and Cryptography (00:00:00)

2. Guests Introduction: Meet Matt Green & Joe Hall (00:05:00)

3. What is Advanced Data Protection (ADP)? (00:15:00)

4. The Snoopers Charter Explained (00:25:00)

5. UK's Control Over Global Data Privacy (00:40:00)

6. Comparing US National Security Orders and UK Powers (00:55:00)

7. Apple’s Dilemma: Disabling ADP in the UK (01:15:00)

8. User Experience and Security: Balancing Act (01:30:00)

9. Future of Encryption: Trends and Predictions (01:50:00)