Firstly its mind blowing that the UK has become a surveillance state and the right to human privacy is no longer an option. The UK is now a country where you can be robbed in your own home and the police probably won’t turn up but if you say something on Facebook or X you will be arrested in no time for your thought crimes. Allowing this next level of surveillance will allow for a entirely new level of spying on citizens.
Washington Post wrote:
Security officials in the United Kingdom have demanded that Apple create a back door allowing them to retrieve all the content any Apple user worldwide has uploaded to the cloud, people familiar with the matter told The Washington Post.
The British government’s undisclosed order, issued last month, requires blanket capability to view fully encrypted material, not merely assistance in cracking a specific account, and has no known precedent in major democracies. Its application would mark a significant defeat for tech companies in their decades-long battle to avoid being wielded as government tools against their users, the people said, speaking under the condition of anonymity to discuss legally and politically sensitive issues.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2025/02/07/apple-encryption-backdoor-uk/
Some people don’t care about privacy but plenty do. We should not be brain washed into thinking the government needs to inspect every single thing we do. Does reading the private emails, photos and documents of every day people really put a stop to terrorism and other crimes? No – it may reduce it 0.1% but it will never be more than that. Serious criminals don’t always use iPhones or Android or backup to iCloud/Google when they are plotting and planning things. Without going into detail, there are specific solutions they use in these sophisticated criminal underworlds. They know the risk is too high on common devices. So all this invasion of privacy will do is give the government and all the sub departments like tax office, home affairs, council etc.. access to little peoples data to prosecute them minimal things. A lot like the large scale corporate and government based massive fraud operations like you have seen uncovered in the USA by Elon Musk, will remain untouchable in every way.
And now in 2025 – “AI” will also help to sift through tons of documents, photos and videos to find anything quickly and easily.
What does the Apple Advanced Data Protection protect against anyway?
You will be surprised but here is a list of what will be made available with it turned off:
Device backup
Messages backup
iCloud Drive
Notes
Photos
Reminders
Safari bookmarks
Siri Shortcuts
Voice Memos
Wallet passes
Lets correct some misconceptions going around online.
1: Switching to Android does not bring your privacy back. Google/Android has the same laws apply to them and their system is equally a problem.
2: Switching from iCloud to Google Drive will be more secure. No, it won’t be because they will be able to request Google Drive data just as easily.
3: Not backing up might help but if you loose your phone and your treasured family photos, you won’t be too happy. See alternatives below.
4: For Messaging only use iMessage or Whatsapp. They are end-to-end secure but they are gaining the message data via the backups, it doesn’t matter if you backup via Whatsapp itself or iCloud – that data is now available for review in the backup.
What can you do to restore your privacy now that the Advanced Data Protection tools is disabled and iCloud is no longer safe?
The best solution going forward is to disable iCloud backup and use something under your control.
Don’t use another cloud provider as this will basically put you back in the same situation of allowing third parties access to your data.
If you have to go with a cloud provider, there is only one option and that is ProtonDrive. So far they seem to have ensured a solid privacy record.
Ideally, setup your own home based storage cloud system that is secure.
The best solution we can find is NextCloud, its free, you run it on a tiny PC or even Raspberry PI in your own home and use the NextCloud iOS/Android app to SYNC your data including Photos to your own private server. Keep this server inside your home network and don’t make it available on the internet with port forwarding.
Some people might say, use WD, Qnap or Synology NAS units – this can work but there have been so many vulnerabilities and flaws in these devices that we consider them to be unsafe and a risk for remote data theft. The primary reason for this, is because these NAS units run a host of applications written by different people and overall they have a host of security issues depending on which applications are operational but sometimes its just the host operating system. At the end of the day, you are entrusting your data to a Chinese company typically.
One final note – if you do run your own home storage solution please ensure it is backed up properly via manual backup or a twin local only NAS.
Here is a summary of what you can do to ensure better privacy going forward?
1: Turn off iCloud backup and/or iCloud Drive completely.
2: Use a local NextCloud server at home to backup via the NextCloud app instead or similar solution.
3: Turn off Photo Sync to Cloud for any and all applications including the iOS shared iCloud system.
4: Turn off Messaging App backups, like Whatsapp Backup.
5: Use apps like Signal for messaging on PC and Phone. It is quite popular now and it is the only safe messaging service we can verify.
6: Use ProtonMail for personal and work/domain based email but it will only be fully secure if you send to another ProtonMail user.
7: Use ProtonDrive for general document storage and basic wordpad style document editing. It is like a secure super notepad for PC and Phone.
8: Use ProtonPass as your Password Manager. It is by far the most trusted and secure solution. Everyone should use it on PC and Phone.
9: Make sure any computer you use has a good Anti-Virus solution like ThreatDown or Malwarebytes. Many other AV solutions are not as good.
10: Don’t just install a million apps on your phone and be careful with permissions. Some apps have state data agreements.
11: When browsing on any PC or Mac be very careful what extensions you install. Ad blockers or other helpers can read all your web page data.
There is an entire section on the dark web revealing the millions of people who have had their data stolen this way and its called ‘Stealer Logs’.
What does the UK Surveillance Bill actually mean?
Key aspects of the bill include:
The bill would preserve current blanket data retention requirements for communications data and add a new requirement for communications service providers to retain users’ “Internet connection records” for up to 12 months. As described in the government’s explanatory notes, this requirement means that the government could get a list of all the websites a person visits or online services they use for up to a year. Even though this would not provide access to the specific pages of a website the person visited, it would be highly revealing of a person’s online activity and could result in self-censorship with a chilling effect on free expression. It would also breach the right to privacy and to information, given that it applies to all users regardless of whether they are under suspicion. Intelligence agencies and police would be able to access such communications data without a warrant or review by a judge. Although judicial approval is required for police to gain access to journalists’ sources, it would not be required for intelligence agencies to get this access.
The bill would make explicit the legal authority for intelligence and security agencies, the police, and the armed forces to hack into computers, networks, and mobile phones (“equipment interference”), on both a targeted and bulk basis. Although a judge would have to approve warrants for hacking, the targets could be broadly defined even under targeted interference warrants.
It would provide an explicit legal basis for intelligence and security agencies to intercept and collect communications in bulk. Although such practices would have to be approved by a judge under the new bill, it would preserve many of the mass surveillance practices Snowden revealed, including the Tempora program, which involved tapping into cables that carry Internet traffic to and from the UK.
The bill would allow authorities to require private companies to carry out hacking, interception, and data collection orders. For example, companies would be required to “maintain technical capabilities” to assist such actions and remove “electronic protection” used by the company to safeguard communications or data. Depending on how these provisions are applied, they could undermine the security of popular Internet services, especially if they require companies to weaken encryption or to redesign encrypted services to include “back doors” for UK authorities. Certain warrants could also be served extraterritorially on companies outside the UK.
The bill would create a new system of judicial oversight of warrants for interception, hacking, and other powers. Under the current system, such warrants are approved by a senior government minister with no judicial involvement. The proposed system would require approval of warrants by both the minister and a senior judge. However, the role of the judge would be limited to determining whether the authorities followed the correct procedure and acted reasonably and within their powers. No independent substantive review of executive decisions is contemplated. Authorities would also be able to proceed without even this pro forma judicial approval temporarily if they deem it “urgent.” Whether a case is “urgent” would be decided by the person who issued the warrant, and such cases would not be limited to situations involving imminent threats to life.
You can also read more from Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch:
The United Kingdom government’s order to Apple to allow security authorities access to encrypted cloud data severely harms the privacy rights of users in the UK and worldwide, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch said today.
The UK government order attempts to force Apple to provide security authorities access to encrypted user data, including device backups that can include contact lists, as well as location and messaging history, for any Apple user worldwide. The secret order, which The Washington Post reported on last week, was issued in January 2025 by the Home Office, the UK’s interior ministry. It concerns Advanced Data Protection, an iPhone function that uses end-to-end encryption on data stored in the cloud, ensuring that only the user of the account can access the data stored.
Continue here on the link below..
https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2025/02/uk-encryption-order-threatens-global-privacy-rights/
