iCloud Backup
Backup service in Hosting & cloud
Criticized more than recommended: critics say backups are encrypted at rest but not end-to-end by default, so Apple can read them; those who recommend it cite automatic backups that make setting up a new iPhone easy.
5 people recommended iCloud Backup in Hacker News comments, 2 had mixed feelings and 9 criticized it, November 2025 to October 2026.
Summary written by Claude from the comments below.
16 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 5
- mixed feelings
- 2
- warn against or regret it
- 9
The record
Recommended in 5 of 12 months
In 5 different threads.
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 5 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- 0.5 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, not met.
- Recommended in 5 of 12 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
- Recommended in 5 threadsNeeds 5 or more, met.
- The biggest thread supplies 20% of its recommendersNeeds half or less, met.
The same rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. Mixed feelings count toward neither side. How the badge works
What people say about it
Reasons grouped from a sample of 23 of the 25 opinions about it, picked in proportion to how many people recommend it, have mixed feelings and criticize it. Each mark is one comment in the sample. Open a reason to read what they said.
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Not end-to-end encrypted by default
“iCloud backups that are not E2E encrypted by default, so that law enforcement can request your chats”
Comment from 17 May 2026 in “Security researcher says Microsoft built a Bitlocker backdoor, releases exploit” “Unless you enable ADP, iCloud backups are only encrypted at rest and not end-to-end.”
Comment from 20 Apr 2026 in “We Accepted Surveillance as Default” “They default to backing up to Apple servers where they are unencrypted.”
Comment from 23 Jan 2026 in “Microsoft gave FBI set of BitLocker encryption keys to unlock suspects' laptops” - Comment from 22 Sep 2026 in “Spymarks, not Watermarks”
- Comment from 17 May 2026 in “Security researcher says Microsoft built a Bitlocker backdoor, releases exploit”
- Comment from 19 Dec 2025 in “Are Apple gift cards safe to redeem?”
Apple can read backed-up messages
“Apple is the company that breaks their "end-to-end" encryption by backing up the encryption keys to their own servers.”
Comment from 13 Mar 2026 in “E2E encrypted messaging on Instagram will no longer be supported after 8 May” “the chats are only encrypted at-rest in the iCloud backups and are accessible by Apple and law enforcement”
Comment from 7 Sep 2026 in “GrapheneOS Overhauled Default Apps and Secure Clipboard” “Unfortunately that doesn't prevent Apple from reading your messages from the backups”
Comment from 13 Mar 2026 in “E2E encrypted messaging on Instagram will no longer be supported after 8 May” - Comment from 24 Sep 2026 in “Two-tier encryption in the UK”
Encryption claims called misleading
“Anything short of that does not qualify as E2EE regardless of the defaults, and marketing it as E2EE is false advertising.”
Comment from 31 Jan 2026 in “US reportedly investigate claims that Meta can read encrypted WhatsApp messages” “Security theater for marketing purposes. End users have no way of verifying that their cloud backups are encrypted”
Comment from 1 Nov 2025 in “Leaker reveals which Pixels are vulnerable to Cellebrite phone hacking” “Apple cares about your privacy, so much that they made a backdoor through bad defaults”
Comment from 13 Oct 2026 in “New Apple TV 4K” - Comment from 31 Jan 2026 in “Apple Platform Security (Jan 2026) [pdf]”
Opt-in protection rarely enabled
“the opt-in e2ee for iCloud Backups is irrelevant - approximately nobody turns it on”
Comment from 10 Feb 2026 in “Google Handed ICE Student Journalist's Bank and Credit Card Numbers”
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Makes new phone setup easy
“I know it will, since it pushed everything to my newer iPhone”
Comment from 15 Dec 2025 in “Price of a bot army revealed across online platforms” “iCloud backups makes setting up a new phone trivial”
Comment from 20 Apr 2026 in “All phones sold in the EU to have replaceable batteries from 2027” “Apple makes this very easy.”
Comment from 21 Aug 2026 in “Felony charges for citizen deleting phone data at US Border”
What people recommend instead
The same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Mixed | Criticize | Approval | Months | Had for | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Backblaze Backup | 34 | 20 | 117 | 23% | 9 | — | — |
| iCloud BackupThis page | 5 | 2 | 9 | 36% | 5 | — | — |
What people said
23 of the 25 opinions about it, picked in proportion to the three counts, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“Apple cares about your privacy, so much that they made a backdoor through bad defaults”
“So, there is always a backup of Messages in iCloud accessible to Apple”
“because everyone enables iCloud backups without ADP”
“the chats are only encrypted at-rest in the iCloud backups and are accessible by Apple and law enforcement”
“Apple makes this very easy.”
“assuming that iCloud Backups are E2E encrypted”
“Apples cloud backup which has documented behavior and a backdoor”
“iCloud backups that are not E2E encrypted by default, so that law enforcement can request your chats”
“Apparently, they were doing background backups”
“This was posted recently, and it's free. Good for tech people”
“iCloud backups makes setting up a new phone trivial”
“Unless you enable ADP, iCloud backups are only encrypted at rest and not end-to-end.”
“versioning for icloud backup”
“Unfortunately that doesn't prevent Apple from reading your messages from the backups”
“Apple is the company that breaks their "end-to-end" encryption by backing up the encryption keys to their own servers.”
“the opt-in e2ee for iCloud Backups is irrelevant - approximately nobody turns it on”
“Anything short of that does not qualify as E2EE regardless of the defaults, and marketing it as E2EE is false advertising.”
“To my knowledge, there's nothing in the security model to prevent this.”
“They default to backing up to Apple servers where they are unencrypted.”
“effectively unencrypted iCloud Backups”
“I know it will, since it pushed everything to my newer iPhone”
“the list of what takes up space does not show what’s actually taking up space”
“Security theater for marketing purposes. End users have no way of verifying that their cloud backups are encrypted”
Counts come from 1,791,911 Hacker News comments labeled by Claude, November 2025 to October 2026, with data through October 31, 2026. Counts updated 3 Nov 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.