EFF Calls on Apple to Let Users Encrypt iCloud Backups as Part of 'Fix It Already' Initiative

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), perhaps the most well-known digital rights non-profit, today launched a new "Fix It Already" campaign with the aim of getting technology companies to implement new privacy features in areas where privacy is lacking.

According to the EFF, the issues that it is demanding a fix for are "well-known privacy and security issues" that have "attainable fixes." From Apple, the EFF wants the company to implement user-encrypted iCloud backups that are inaccessible to the company and thus to law enforcement.

appleuserencryptedicloudbackups
iCloud content uploaded to Apple is encrypted at the location of the server and, with the proper legal requests, Apple can provide ‌iCloud‌ information that includes name, address, email, mail logs with date/time stamps, photos, Safari browsing history, iMessages, and more, with full details outlined by Apple on its privacy site. [PDF]

The EFF says that Apple should "let users protect themselves" and elect for "truly encrypted ‌iCloud‌ backups."

Apple has not encrypted ‌iCloud‌ backups because doing so would prevent Apple from being able to restore ‌iCloud‌ backups for users who have forgotten their passwords. As the EFF points out, though, Apple CEO Tim Cook has said in the past that Apple may move towards encrypted ‌iCloud‌ backups in the future. From an interview Cook did with German site Der Spiegel:

There our users have a key and we have one. We do this because some users lose or forget their key and then expect help from us to get their data back. It is difficult to estimate when we will change this practice. But I think that will be regulated in the future as with the devices. So we will not have a key for it in the future.

The EFF has demands for other technology companies in addition to Apple. Android, it says, should let users deny and revoke apps' internet permissions, while Twitter should end-to-end encrypt direct messages and Facebook should stop using phone numbers provided for account creation for targeted advertising.

WhatsApp should obtain user consent before adding users to groups, Slack should give free workspace administrators control over data retention, and Verizon should stop pre-installing spyware on some smartphones.

Tag: EFF

Popular Stories

iPhone 16 Battery Life Feature

iOS 26's New Battery Life Mode Available Only on These iPhone Models

Saturday June 21, 2025 9:02 am PDT by
Last week, we reported that iOS 26 introduces an opt-in Adaptive Power Mode on the iPhone, alongside the existing Low Power Mode. Apple says that Adaptive Power Mode can make "small performance adjustments" when necessary to extend an iPhone's battery life, including slightly lowering the display brightness or allowing some activities to "take a little longer." The full description of...
iPhone 17 Pro Blue Feature Tighter Crop

iPhone 17 Pro Launching in Three Months With These 12 New Features

Saturday June 21, 2025 2:45 pm PDT by
The iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are around three months away, and there are plenty of rumors about the devices from credible sources. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of June 2025:Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models have a titanium frame, and the iPhone X...
apple wallet drivers license feature iPhone 15 pro

iPhone Driver's Licenses: These 17 U.S. States Offer Them or Will Later

Thursday June 19, 2025 11:28 am PDT by
In select U.S. states, residents can add their driver's license or state ID to the Wallet app on the iPhone and Apple Watch, providing a convenient and contactless way to display proof of identity or age at select airports and businesses, and in select apps. Unfortunately, this feature continues to roll out very slowly since it was announced in 2021, with only nine U.S. states and Puerto...
All Screen iPhone 2027 Feature 1

iPhone Reportedly Moving to All-Screen Design in Two Stages

Sunday June 22, 2025 3:58 pm PDT by
Apple has long been working towards an iPhone with an all-screen design, and it might finally achieve the feat in a few more years from now. In his Power On newsletter today, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said that Apple will shrink the size of the Dynamic Island on new iPhone models released next year. A year after that, he expects Apple to release a redesigned 20th-anniversary iPhone model....
ios 26 call holding

iOS 26 Beta is Hiding a New Ringtone — Here's What It Sounds Like

Thursday June 19, 2025 7:25 pm PDT by
Apple is hiding a new ringtone within iOS 26. The new ringtone is an alternative version of the existing Reflection ringtone, which has been the default ringtone since the iPhone X was released in 2017. It was discovered within the code for the first developer beta of iOS 26, but it remains hidden, so you will not find it in the list of ringtones available in the Settings app for now. It...
iPhone 17 Pro Blue Feature Tighter Crop

iPhone 17 Pro Launching in Three Months With These 12 New Features

Saturday June 14, 2025 5:45 pm PDT by
The iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are three months away, and there are plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of June 2025:Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models have a titanium frame, and the iPhone X through iPhone 14 Pro have a...
iPhone 17 Pro Blue Feature Tighter Crop

iPhone 17 Pro's Alleged Vapor Chamber Cooling System Partly Revealed

Sunday June 22, 2025 6:37 am PDT by
Apple's upcoming iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max models are rumored to be equipped with a vapor chamber cooling system, and a leaker known as Majin Bu today shared a photo of an alleged copper thermal plate for the system. Many high-end Android smartphones like Samsung's Galaxy S25 Ultra are equipped with a vapor chamber cooling system, which can manage heat dissipation inside the...
Wi Fi WiFi General Feature

iOS 26 Adding Two New Wi-Fi Features, Allows AirDrop and AirPlay Alternatives

Saturday June 21, 2025 7:02 am PDT by
iOS 26 is gaining two new Wi-Fi features, including Captive Assist and Wi-Fi Aware. MacRumors contributor Aaron Perris discovered a reference to Captive Assist within the code for the first iOS 26 developer beta, but Apple has yet to enable the feature. It should be available by the time the software update is released later this year. In his Power On newsletter last month, Bloomberg's...
apple watch ultra 2 new black

Apple Watch Ultra 3 Finally Coming After Two-Year Hiatus

Monday June 16, 2025 8:45 am PDT by
Apple will finally deliver the Apple Watch Ultra 3 sometime this year, according to analyst Jeff Pu of GF Securities Hong Kong (via @jukanlosreve). The analyst expects both the Apple Watch Series 11 and Apple Watch Ultra 3 to arrive this year (likely alongside the new iPhone 17 lineup, if previous launches are anything to go by), according to his latest product roadmap shared with...

Top Rated Comments

cmChimera Avatar
83 months ago
I definitely agree with them.
Score: 34 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ersan191 Avatar
83 months ago
Just make it optional - people who know what they are doing can enable it and the regular people who are more likely to forget their passwords can leave it off.
Score: 22 Votes (Like | Disagree)
cmaier Avatar
83 months ago
We should be very careful what we ask for. While I value privacy, there are legitimate reasons for someone else to have the key to our files. For example, should something happen to your spouse or parent (stroke, severe accident, etc), all their info would permanently be locked out, including all their photos. We live in an age where the photos of all our loved ones reside on our iPhones and iCloud. There must be a way to salvage them.
If i wanted my heirs to have access to my stuff after I die I would be sure to arrange for that. I don’t need apple to do my estate planning.
Score: 15 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Apple_Robert Avatar
83 months ago
Glad to see the EFF publicly pushing for this. Apple needs to take heed.

I want safety. I promise not to complain if I go senile and forget by password.
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Ldubrov Avatar
83 months ago
We should be very careful what we ask for. While I value privacy, there are legitimate reasons for someone else to have the key to our files. For example, should something happen to your spouse or parent (stroke, severe accident, etc), all their info would permanently be locked out, including all their photos. We live in an age where the photos of all our loved ones reside on our iPhones and iCloud. There must be a way to salvage them.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
zorinlynx Avatar
83 months ago
Why can't it be treated the same way as FileVault?

If you forget your FileVault password, you lose your data, period. Just make it ABSOLUTELY CLEAR to the user that they must not forget their password or they will lose their iCloud backup data. They could even make it a choice; I believe FileVault asks if you want to let Apple keep a copy of the recovery key.

I know Apple is really big on keeping users from shooting themselves in the foot, but for those of us who understand the risks, we should be allowed to secure our data further.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)