As shared by Tiino-X83 on X (Twitter), the latest iOS 26.3 beta includes references to a new carrier bundle setting that will let carriers enable and disable E2EE for RCS messages.

It’s possible that the setting relates to making the encryption status of messages visible to the user, as per the GSMA standard’s requirements. The requirement is stupulated because local regulations can prohibit E2EE for all users, and users must be notified of encryption status.

End-to-end encryption for RCS was announced in March 2025, as part of version 3.0 of the RCS Universal Profile. Apple said it planned to add support to the Messages app in future iOS, iPadOS, macOS, and watchOS software updates, but the company has since been silent on the subject.

The carrier bundle references in the latest iOS 26.3 beta could be Apple laying the groundwork for future support, and are no guarantee that E2EE for RCS messages are coming with the software release. But they at least indicate that Apple is working to bring support at some point in the future.

RCS support as a whole was added to the iPhone with iOS 18, which supports ‌RCS‌ Universal Profile 2.4. It is effectively a modernized version of the SMS standard, which remains available as a fallback option for text messages over a cellular network.

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The post UK Government Pushed for Broad Backdoor Access to Apple iCloud Data appeared first on Appleosophy.

New court filings published on Wednesday by the Investigatory Powers Tribunal (IPC) show the Home Office’s technical capability notice (TCN) “is not limited to” Apple’s Advanced Data Protection feature, reports the FT. The order also included requirements for Apple to “provide and maintain a capability to disclose categories of data stored within a cloud-based backup service,” suggesting the UK wanted access to backed-up messages and passwords.

Perhaps most significantly, the court document states that “the obligations included in the TCN are not limited to the UK or users of the service in the UK; they apply globally in respect of the relevant data categories of all iCloud users.”

The revelation comes after Trump administration officials claimed last week that the UK had agreed to drop its encryption demands following pressure from the U.S. director of national intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and vice president JD Vance. However, the new filing suggests the Home Office has yet to formally modify or rescind its global data access demands.

Apple withdrew its Advanced Data Protection (ADP) feature from UK customers in February after receiving the secret government order, but the court documents imply this was only the tip of the iceberg. ADP provides end-to-end encryption for additional iCloud categories like Photos, Notes, and device backups, while standard iCloud already encrypts data in transit and at rest but allows Apple to access it with proper legal requests.

The case is arguably the most significant encryption battle since Apple’s 2016 fight with the FBI over unlocking the San Bernardino shooter’s iPhone. Apple has consistently maintained that creating backdoors would compromise security for all users and inevitably be exploited by malicious actors.

The IPC will hear Apple’s legal challenge in open court early next year, although the UK government refuses to confirm or deny the existence of the Home Office order. The court has agreed to proceed based on “assumed facts” to avoid participants violating the Official Secrets Act.

One person familiar with the case told FT they were “still very concerned this is still going on,” despite public statements from U.S. officials about the UK backing down.

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Tulsi Gabbard said in a post on X (Twitter) the UK had dropped its plans to force Apple to provide a back door that would have “enabled access to the protected encrypted data of American citizens and encroached on our civil liberties.”

According to sources who spoke to the Financial Times, the UK has agreed to rescind the order, but it has yet to be formally withdrawn. The BBC reports that Apple has yet to received any formal communication from either government.

The development follows reports earlier this year that the UK used its Investigatory Powers Act (IPA) to demand secret access to encrypted user data uploaded to iCloud worldwide. Apple responded by removing its Advanced Data Protection feature from the UK rather than compromising its security standards.

The British government had sought to keep details of the case private, but Apple filed a legal appeal against a UK that meant the Home Office couldn’t keep all the details of its demand out of the public domain.

Apple made it clear that it would pull ‌iCloud‌ features from the UK rather than compromise its user security, and while that initially only extended to Advanced Data Protection, it could have led to key features like FaceTime and iMessage being removed in the country. The UK wanted backdoor access to ‌iCloud‌ data to fight terrorism and investigate child sex abuse.

The UK’s order was particularly controversial as it would have required Apple to provide access to data from users outside the UK without their governments’ knowledge – which was what led the U.S. to pressure the UK government to back down. The IPA also makes it illegal for companies to disclose the existence of such government demands.

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The Meta-owned service warned that the case “could set a dangerous precedent” by encouraging other governments to demand access to encrypted communications.

Apple launched legal action after receiving a secret government notice earlier this year demanding backdoor access to encrypted iCloud data worldwide. The UK used its Investigatory Powers Act to require Apple to compromise its Advanced Data Protection feature, which encrypts user photos, notes, messages, and device backups.

Rather than comply, Apple pulled the encryption feature from UK users entirely in February.

“WhatsApp would challenge any law or government request that seeks to weaken the encryption of our services,” Cathcart said. The company vowed to continue defending users’ “right to a private conversation online.”

The encryption controversy has drawn criticism from American politicians, with some calling it a “dangerous attack on US cybersecurity.” Tulsi Gabbard, director of US National Intelligence, described the UK’s demands as an “egregious violation” of US citizens’ privacy.

A UK court rejected the government’s attempt to keep details of Apple’s legal challenge secret. Judges ruled that conducting hearings entirely in private would be “truly extraordinary.”

The Home Office has defended its position, saying the government’s “first priority” is keeping people safe while protecting privacy. Officials argue the powers help investigate serious crimes including terrorism and child abuse.

Apple maintains that creating backdoors would inevitably compromise security for all users, making them vulnerable to malicious actors.

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The high-profile challenge follows reports earlier this year that the UK used its Investigatory Powers Act to demand secret access to encrypted user data uploaded to iCloud worldwide. Apple responded by removing its Advanced Data Protection feature from the UK rather than compromising its security standards.

According to the IPT ruling, the British government had sought to keep details of the case private. The Home Office argued that publicizing the existence of the appeal could damage national security, but Judges Rabinder Singh and Jeremy Johnson rejected this claim.

“It would have been a truly extraordinary step to conduct a hearing entirely in secret without any public revelation of the fact that a hearing was taking place,” the judges wrote in their decision. “For the reasons that are set out in our private judgement, we do not accept that the revelation of the bare details of the case would be damaging to the public interest or prejudicial to national security.”

Monday’s ruling follows a hearing in London in March, which was held in secret.

Apple previously made it clear that it would pull ‌iCloud‌ features from the UK rather than compromise its user security, and while that only extends to Advanced Data Protection right now, it could lead to key features like FaceTime and iMessage being removed in the country. The UK wants backdoor access to ‌iCloud‌ data to fight terrorism and investigate child sex abuse.

The UK’s order was particularly controversial as it would have required Apple to provide access to data from users outside the UK without their governments’ knowledge. Additionally, the IPA makes it illegal for companies to disclose the existence of such government demands.

The US government is reportedly investigating whether the UK’s demand violates the CLOUD Act, which prevents the UK from requesting data from US citizens.

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Earlier this year, the UK government invoked the Investigatory Powers Act to demand that Apple create a backdoor granting secret access to encrypted user data stored in iCloud globally. However, Apple refused to comply.

In response, rather than granting the requested access, Apple withdrew Advanced Data Protection from the UK, ensuring it would not be required to provide decryption capabilities. Advanced Data Protection offers end-to-end encryption for iPhone, iPad, and Mac users’ data stored in iCloud.

Apple subsequently lodged a legal complaint to the IPT. “We have never built a back door or master key to any of our products, and we never will,” Apple said at the time.

Now Privacy International and Liberty have done the same. The groups argue that Apple’s appeal should be heard in public, and that ordering Apple to compromise the security of its products breaches its customers’ free expression and privacy rights.

“The UK’s use of a secret order to undermine security for people worldwide is unacceptable and disproportionate,” said Caroline Wilson Palow, legal director at Privacy International. “People the world over rely on end-to-end encryption to protect themselves from harassment and oppression. No country should have the power to undermine that protection for everyone.”

“It would be an entirely reckless and unprecedented move from the UK government to open up a back door to this data, and one that will have global consequences,” said Akiko Hart, Liberty’s director. “We need concrete guarantees from the UK government that they won’t proceed with these plans.”

The matter is being considered at a closed hearing of the tribunal at the High Court on Friday. Apple is not able to discuss the order made by the UK in public due to the terms of the law.

Several UK media organizations, including the BBC, Reuters, Sky News and the publishers of The Guardian, The Times, The Telegraph, Computer Weekly and Financial Times, have also made a submission to the IPT arguing that the Apple case should not be heard in private.

The US government is also looking into whether the UK’s demand has violated the CLOUD act, which keeps the UK from asking for data from US citizens, and vice versa.

In a February interview with The Spectator, US president Donald Trump said he confronted UK prime minister Keir Starmer over the move and compared it with Chinese government surveillance.

“We told them you can’t do this,” Trump said. “We actually told [Starmer]… that’s incredible. That’s something, you know, that you hear about with China.”

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“End-to-end encryption is a powerful privacy and security technology that iMessage has supported since the beginning, and now we are pleased to have helped lead a cross industry effort to bring end-to-end encryption to the RCS Universal Profile published by the GSMA,” said an Apple spokesperson. “We will add support for end-to-end encrypted RCS messages to iOS, iPadOS, macOS, and watchOS in future software updates.”

The GSM Association (GSMA), the organization responsible for developing the RCS standard, started working to enable E2EE on messages sent between Android and iPhone in September last year. It only announced the new RCS specification with E2EE support today, so it’s not clear how long it will take Apple to incorporate the updated profile into its software. But at least it’s coming.

Apple adopted RCS with last year’s release of iOS 18.1, which replaced SMS with ‌RCS‌ messaging for texts sent to Android users. While the update brings improvements such as high-resolution media sharing, read receipts, and typing indicators, it notably lacks E2EE – something Apple’s proprietary iMessage system already supports.

The implementation of E2EE for cross-platform ‌RCS‌ messages would prevent third parties, such as messaging services or cell carriers, from viewing the content of texts. This added layer of security would also prevent state surveillance of citizens’ ‌RCS‌ communications.

Google Messages already supports E2EE by default for RCS texts, but this applies only to conversations between Google Messages users. Messages exchanged with iPhone users or those using other RCS clients on Android are not encrypted.

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The investigation comes after Apple’s recent decision to withdraw its Advanced Data Protection feature from the UK after the British government reportedly issued a secret order requiring Apple to provide access to encrypted user data globally.

• Apple’s Data Encryption Changes in the UK Explained

In a February 25 letter to Senator Ron Wyden and Representative Andy Biggs, Gabbard stated that her legal team is reviewing whether the U.K.’s demands violated the CLOUD Act, which prohibits either country from issuing demands for the other’s citizens’ data.

“Upon initial review of the U.S. and U.K. bilateral CLOUD Act Agreement, the United Kingdom may not issue demands for data of U.S. citizens, nationals, or lawful permanent residents, nor is it authorized to demand the data of persons located inside the United States,” Gabbard wrote.

The CLOUD Act (Clarifying Lawful Overseas Use of Data Act) was designed to regulate how governments can request data across borders while protecting citizens’ privacy rights.

Apple introduced end-to-end encryption for iCloud backups in 2022, meaning only users have the keys to access their data. The company has historically opposed creating encryption backdoors, arguing they inevitably compromise security for all users.

Apple CEO Tim Cook has consistently insisted that providing backdoor access past its encryption for authorities would open the door for “bad guys” to gain access to its users’ data. Cybersecurity experts agree that any government backdoor would eventually be discovered and exploited by malicious actors.

• How to Enable Advanced Data Protection

U.S. agencies including the FBI and CISA, the U.S. cyber defense agency, recently advocated for increased use of encryption to protect against cyber threats from the likes of China. In December, the agencies jointly advised Americans to “ensure that traffic is end-to-end encrypted to the maximum extent possible” as a countermeasure against foreign cyber campaigns.

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