No Compromises.. Except

No compromises.. except from Apple itself.

Apple’s Secure Enclave, Touch ID, on-device encryption — none of that is marketing fiction. But it is solving the wrong threat model. Thieves and hackers, not states.

iCloud backup is on by default. The moment it is, your encryption keys live on Apple’s servers. Apple can hand them over under legal process. Apple once had a plan to fix this — two internal projects, code-named Plesio and KeyDrop. End-to-end encryption for iCloud backups. The FBI objected. The projects were shut down. A former Apple employee told Reuters: “Legal killed it, for reasons you can imagine. They decided they weren’t going to poke the bear anymore.”

Apple denied the report. Then in December 2022, Apple quietly launched Advanced Data Protection — the exact feature they said they had never planned. The FBI called it “deeply concerning.” It is opt-in. Not default.

In 2018, the Trump Justice Department subpoenaed Apple for data on Democratic congressmen investigating Russia ties — Schiff, Swalwell, their aides, their families, including a minor. Apple complied under a gag order that lasted three years. The reassurance offered was “metadata only.” Which means: who you called, when, how often, from what device, from what location. Intelligence analysts prefer metadata over content. It reconstructs your entire network without reading a single word. “Metadata only” is not a limit on what they know. It is a limit on what they can quote in court.

In early 2025, the UK secretly ordered Apple to hand over encrypted iCloud data — not for specific users, but a blanket capability covering all users, everywhere in the world. The US responded by sending its intelligence director to London. Tulsi Gabbard, Trump’s Director of National Intelligence, flew. JD Vance, his Vice President, engaged directly with British officials. The UK backed down. The stated reason: to protect the private data of American citizens.

No one flew to Jakarta.

The US and its allies will not think twice about reaching into your data when it serves their interest. The architecture exists. The legal mechanisms exist. The precedent exists. And the protection — the kind that comes with diplomatic intervention — is reserved for the right passport.

Apple guards your data from everyone. Except the people who guard Apple. Quis custodiet ipsos custodes — who watches the watchmen — is a question that is two thousand years old. The answer has not changed: nobody, unless you are the right nationality on the right day.