'Two years ago, Apple dropped a plan that would have made it impossible for the company to decrypt iPhone and iPad backups for law enforcement, according to a Reuters report today. Reuters wrote that "six sources familiar with the matter" confirmed that Apple dropped the end-to-end encryption plan for iCloud Backup "after the FBI complained that the move would harm investigations."

Apple had "told the FBI that it planned to offer users end-to-end encryption when storing their phone data on iCloud" more than two years ago, Reuters wrote.

"Under that plan, primarily designed to thwart hackers, Apple would no longer have a key to unlock the encrypted data, meaning it would not be able to turn material over to authorities in a readable form even under court order," the report continued.

But the FBI objected, and Apple dropped the plan, although the exact reason for doing so isn't clear. One former Apple employee told Reuters that the company "decided they weren't going to poke the bear anymore." However, another former Apple employee "said it was possible the encryption project was dropped for other reasons, such as concern that more customers would find themselves locked out of their data more often."'

-- source: https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2020/01/apple-reportedly-nixed-plan-for-...

Cheers, Peter