Two-Tier Encryption in the UK – Identical Apple Devices, Different Protection

In February 2025, the UK government ordered Apple to disable Advanced Data Protection—its strongest encryption feature—for new UK users, making it unavailable to those who hadn't already enabled it before the deadline. This creates a two-tiered system where identical iPhones in the UK have different levels of encryption depending on when the feature was activated, stemming from the government's powers under the Investigatory Powers Act 2016 to demand access to encrypted data. The move echoes the San Bernardino iPhone case from 2015, when Apple famously resisted FBI demands to create a backdoor, arguing such tools would compromise security for all users.