In February 2025, the UK and Apple tension reached its peak over encryption. The government wanted Apple to provide a backdoor to customer data. Apple rather than submitting to this demand removed end-to-end encryptions for all British customers.
As we know, end-to-end encryption makes data inaccessible. It can be accessed only by the holder of encryption keys — the i cloud customer. The government wanted to penetrate the security layer. Apple resisted the efforts of even the US government to break into the encrypted system.
The British government has got more than what it has demanded. However, along with government, the bad actors too will have easier access to personal data of the British citizens. The British users are the losers.
In the world, we observe a privacy paradox. Even those customers who care for data privacy, they do not act on this concern by activating privacy settings on products. We do not know how many Apple customers have turned on end-to-end encryption. If the number is low, it is an example of privacy paradox.
Instead, privacy has become a product differentiation strategy for Apple. The UK retreat may reveal whether privacy features are worth the regulatory battles, especially if the consumers do not care.
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