In another chapter of its ongoing battle with the UK government, Apple has pulled the plug on Advanced Data Protection for UK customers. In a statement, Apple explained, “We are gravely disappointed that the protections provided by ADP will not be available to our customers in the UK…”

Instead of complying with the UK government’s demands for a system backdoor, Apple opted to completely disable the Advanced Data Protection feature for UK users.

The big question remains: Is this move enough to satisfy the UK government? We don’t know if this is a strategic play by Apple or if it represents a negotiated agreement between the two parties.

This story isn’t over yet. Meanwhile, UK citizens looking to keep their data private are left holding the bag.