The UK's demand for an encryption backdoor in iCloud, and Apple's response, have repercussions that go far beyond national borders, threatening user privacy and security worldwide.

Apple on February 21 withdrew its Advanced Data Protection feature from the United Kingdom following government demands for backdoor access

In an unprecedented step, Apple caved to a reported U.K. government’s demand to prevent users from using end-to-end encryption in iCloud.

The company said it was "gravely disappointed" to no longer be able to offer Advanced Data Protection to iPhone users in the UK.

Apple has withdrawn its Advanced Data Protection iCloud feature from the United Kingdom following government demands for backdoor access to

U.S. officials are examining whether the UK broke a bilateral agreement by reportedly demanding that Apple build a "backdoor" allowing the British government to access backups of data in the company's encrypted cloud storage systems.