The NCSC said the measures were among those that would “reduce the likelihood of becoming victims of a cyber attack”.
ADP is an optional feature introduced by Apple in 2022 that links cloud backups of photos and messages to a user’s device and passcode, meaning the company does not have a way of accessing personal data.
The Home Office handed Apple a “technical capability notice”, a secret order that it find a way to bypass this encryption, in January.
End-to-end encryption has often led to clashes between security advocates and law enforcement, who warn that criminals can use the protections to evade detection.
Ben Wallace, the former defence secretary, said on Friday that “the people who love encryption most are paedophiles”. He later added: “In our democracies, with independent judiciaries, paedophiles, organised crime, spies and terrorists ... exploit and benefit from such high levels of security.”
New users can no longer sign up to ADP in the UK. Those who are currently using the service will have it switched off over time with alerts from the company.
On Friday, Apple said: “We are gravely disappointed that the protections provided by ADP will not be available to our customers in the UK given the continuing rise of data breaches and other threats to customer privacy. Enhancing the security of cloud storage with end-to-end encryption is more urgent than ever before.
“Apple remains committed to offering our users the highest level of security for their personal data and are hopeful that we will be able to do so in the future in the United Kingdom. As we have said many times before, we have never built a back door or master key to any of our products or services and we never will.”
The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) has recommended measures to reduce the risk of cyber attacks. One such measure is Apple's optional feature called Account Recovery Passcode (ADP), introduced in 2022. ADP links cloud backups of photos and messages to a user's device and passcode, ensuring that Apple cannot access personal data.
In January, the Home Office issued a "technical capability notice" to Apple, requesting a way to bypass ADP encryption. This move has sparked debates between security advocates and law enforcement regarding end-to-end encryption, with concerns that criminals could exploit the protection to evade detection.
Former defence secretary Ben Wallace stated that those who advocate for encryption are often associated with criminal activities. As a result, new users in the UK can no longer sign up for ADP, and existing users will have the service gradually disabled with notifications from Apple.
Apple expressed disappointment over the decision, emphasizing the importance of end-to-end encryption in light of increasing data breaches and threats to customer privacy. The company remains committed to providing high-level security for user data and reassures that they have never created backdoors or master keys for their products and services. They hope to offer ADP in the UK again in the future.
