Will Apple break data encryption for the UK government?

Computerworld.com reported “The authoritarian, surveillance-loving UK Labour government remains deeply committed to magical thinking, slamming yet another encryption-busting “Technical Capability Notice” (TCN) on Apple, according to the Financial Times.” The October 2, 2025 article entitled “UK government still wants Apple to break data encryption” (https://www.computerworld.com/article/4067081/uk-government-still-wants-apple-to-break-data-encryption.html) included these comments:

The difference is that this time it says it only wants to damage the privacy and security of the UK’s subject population. “The UK government has issued a new order to Apple to create a back door into its cloud storage service, this time targeting only British users’ data,” the FT reported.

It’s not over till it’s over

Snap back in time and you’ll recall the UK Home Office secretly demanded that Apple create a worldwide back door into encrypted iCloud data. Apple responded by withdrawing its Advanced Data Protection service from the UK market and opposing the request in a top-secret UK court. The original order also extended to users outside the UK, so the government also faced opposition from privacy and free speech advocates and the US government as the move trampled on the Constitutional rights of US citizens. 

The latter seemed to have an impact. 

Is anyone surprised?