# Apple Advanced Data Protection 25 Hacker News commenters recommended Apple Advanced Data Protection and 27 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 9 of 13 months. **Verdict:** Encrypts most iCloud data end to end so Apple cannot read it. Common caveat: off by default, and removed in the UK. ## Why people recommend it - Apple cannot read encrypted data (5 comments): "for anyone concerned about privacy they can use Advanced Data Protection which encrypts all their data and prevents Apple from reading it" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46738277)) "at that point, Apple literally does not have the keys to your end-to-end encrypted data and cannot read or disclose it." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46966917)) "encrypts it so Apple can give them the data, but they don't have the keys to decrypt it" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49067988)) - Covers backups, photos, bookmarks, history (4 comments): "check out iCloud Advanced Data Protection for similar protections over the rest of your iCloud data" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46735902)) "Apple offers true E2E encryption for photos while Google doesn't" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46007884)) "Apple ADP is true e2e encrypted bookmarks, history and so on." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48557098)) - Better privacy than most rivals (4 comments): "I wouldn't underestimate iCloud with advanced data protection, it is arguably the most comprehensive and affordable e2ee cloud plan available." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47484628)) "Incremental, improved privacy offered by apple over something like Windows is a significant improvement for most people." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49845437)) "No other large data providers really provide anything equivalent to ADP’s E2EE protection" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48249198)) - Protects against government access (3 comments): "ADP is designed not just for encrypted backups, but to harden the ecosystem for people who may be under the greatest threat." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46845282)) "Closing that backdoor is possible for the consumer, by enabling ADP (advanced data protection) on your device." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46839107)) "ICE cannot be granted access once you do unless you yourself give them that access." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46998481)) ## What people warn about - Most users never enable it (2 comments): "they are overwhelmingly un likely to have proactively enabled the non-default "Advanced Data Protection" feature." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46839543)) "they would end-to-end encrypt iCloud backups by default and not just when ADP is enabled, which only a small subset of users do" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48465217)) - Removed for UK and new users (3 comments): "it was very widely publicized in the past couple of weeks that Apple has removed Advanced Data Protection for users in the UK" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46745682)) "Apple is taking the unprecedented step of removing its highest level data security tool from customers in the UK" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48248780)) "Apple kept it for existing users but stopped offering it to new users. So new users are vulnerable." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48249737)) - Breaks some features and apps (2 comments): "Enabling ADP breaks all kinds of things in Apple's ecosystem subtly with incredibly arcane errors." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46844307)) "Doesn't work if you have Advanced Data Protection (end to end encryption) enabled." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46581164)) - Metadata and photo hashes still visible (2 comments): "users aren't informed that block-level metadata is retained and that this metadata can leak information about content despite E2EE" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46753087)) "Even with ADP on, it uploads the unique hashes of the PLAINTEXT of every photo to Apple" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50126517)) ## Where to get it - [Visit the official site](https://support.apple.com/en-us/102651) ## Cite as Hacker Approved, "Apple Advanced Data Protection", https://hackerapproved.com/p/apple-advanced-data-protection/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).