Elon Musk has offered a single-word endorsement of the iPhone maker’s legal challenge against the UK government over encrypted cloud data access, writing “Good.” Musk’s brief but significant comment came in response to reports that Apple has filed an appeal with the Investigatory Powers Tribunal after the UK government reportedly issued a secret order demanding sweeping access to users’ encrypted iCloud data, prompting the tech giant to disable its Advanced Data Protection feature in the United Kingdom.
The legal battle stems from a January order under the UK’s Investigatory Powers Act 2016, which reportedly demanded “blanket” access to end-to-end encrypted files uploaded to Apple’s cloud by any user worldwide. Rather than create a backdoor that could compromise user security globally, Apple opted to remove its highest level of security protection from UK devices while pursuing legal remedies.
Apple has consistently maintained its opposition to creating backdoors to encryption, stating, “We have never built a backdoor or master key to any of our products or services and we never will.” The company expressed disappointment at having to disable the Advanced Data Protection feature for UK users.
The UK government defended its position, claiming it has “robust safeguards and independent oversight to protect privacy” while balancing national security concerns related to terrorism and child abuse.
Musk’s support for Apple marks a departure from his previous criticisms of the company’s privacy practices, particularly regarding its partnership with OpenAI to bring ChatGPT to Siri, which he characterized as “handing your data over to a third-party.”
