Following up on my post of last week about Apple and user privacy, I missed the point about iCloud backups. While your device is encrypted, your iCloud backup is not. At least, there is no end-to-end encryption, which means Apple can access the data. Several years ago Apple explained they were in the process of making the iCloud backup end-to-end encrypted as well, but now we are hearing reports that Apple abandoned those plans in an effort to satisfy the FBI.

There are multiple sources cited for this story and it appears to be true. So Apple is holding the line on our devices but not on our backups. That seems like a great way to upset everyone. Do they think giving the government user just iCloud backups will satisfy them? Do they think that privacy-minded users will say “good enough” when they realize their device is encrypted but not their backups? Seems to me like it is time for Apple to fish or cut bait.