Fresh polling shows British adults overwhelmingly reject government access to encrypted messages, a finding that lands squarely in Apple’s fight with Westminster over iCloud encryption. The Center for Democracy and Technology commissioned Public First to survey 2,000 adults in April, releasing the results on August 30.
Ninety-three percent of respondents said they have a right to private conversations online, and 89 percent believe nobody should access personal messages without a court order. Two-thirds said they would not trust the current government, or any future one, with the power to read encrypted chats. Distrust crosses party lines, from 56 percent of Liberal Democrat voters to 75 percent of Reform supporters.
The numbers arrive as Apple battles the UK over its data demands. Apple pulled Advanced Data Protection from British users after receiving a secret Technical Capability Notice under the Investigatory Powers Act, challenged the order in court, and reports suggest a second notice targeted British users. Despite the row, 55 percent of those polled had never heard of the Apple notice.
Support for secret access orders was thin. Just 12 percent backed the government quietly ordering companies to hand over user data without revealing the demand. A third said the government should not hold that power at all, and 41 percent wanted more transparency or parliamentary oversight. Fifty-three percent said security risks outweighed benefits, while 84 percent worried access mechanisms could open holes for hackers.
Open Rights Group executive director Jim Killock said the public instinctively understands that private communication is essential to a free society. He argued the government persists with the myth that it can weaken encryption to target only bad actors. The polling does not end Westminster’s pursuit of encrypted communications, but it removes any claim of public backing for it.
