The United Kingdom is weighing measures that could compel Apple to provide access to some iCloud data, raising a precise question for crypto users who keep wallets on iPhones and Macs.

If device backups and common file stores lose end-to-end protections in the UK, seed phrases and private key material can more easily move from a user’s device into locations where lawful process, or a Technical Capability Notice, can reach them.

UK authorities issued a renewed Technical Capability Notice to Apple focused on iCloud access for UK accounts. Apple has not commented on that order.

The Home Office has not commented on individual notices, which are secret by design. In February, Apple withdrew Advanced Data Protection for UK users, a setting that otherwise extends end-to-end encryption to categories such as device backups, iCloud Drive, Photos, and Notes.

iCloud Keychain remains end-to-end encrypted by default, and Apple says it has never built a backdoor for its products.

That split matters because crypto wallets do not live only inside iCloud Keychain.

Users frequently produce screenshots of seed phrases and store them in Photos, jot down recovery words in Notes, or leave wallet app data inside a device backup. When Advanced Data Protection is unavailable, those categories revert to Apple-held keys, which can be decrypted after authentication or under a lawful order.

The UK change does not affect iCloud Keychain; however, content outside Keychain is. Historical cases show real losses when wallet vaults written to iCloud backups were phished and drained, including incidents tied to MetaMask advisories.

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Author: Liam ‘Akiba’ Wright