According to the Washington Post, Britain's security officials have ordered Apple to create a so-called 'back door' allowing them to retrieve all the content any Apple user worldwide has uploaded to the cloud.

Apple is likely to stop offering encrypted storage in the UK, rather than break the security promises it made to its users everywhere.

UK's office of the Home Secretary has served Apple with a document called a technical capability notice, ordering it to provide the access.

"We do not comment on operational matters, including for example confirming or denying the existence of any such notices," a Home Office spokesperson said.

Britain in January used its regulatory powers to launch an investigation into Apple and Google's smartphone operating systems, app stores and browsers.

Apple has previously pushed back against other UK attempts to legislate backdoors to encrypted communications. Apple told the British parliament in March 2024 amidst a discussion of an amendment to the Investigatory Powers Act that “There is no reason why the UK government should have the authority to decide for citizens of the world whether they can avail themselves of the proven security benefits that flow from end-to-end encryption."

In the U.S., the FBI is a strong advocate for the wide and consistent use of responsibly managed encryption—encryption that providers can decrypt and provide to law enforcement when served with a legal order.

Protecting data and privacy in a digitally connected world is a top priority for the FBI, and promoting encryption is a vital part of that mission. The FBI does not want encryption to be weakened or compromised so that it can be defeated by malicious actors. Rather, the FBI along with federal, state, and local law enforcement colleagues, want providers who manage encrypted data to be able to decrypt that data and provide it to law enforcement only in response to U.S. legal process.

Governments around the world are watching this case in the UK with great interest. Should they succeed, other countries may follow suit.