Apple has a security nightmare on its hands that’s showing no signs yet of coming to an end. For the first time, the iPhone-maker is making its famously locked-down phones less secure, putting millions of users at risk.

In an unprecedented step, Apple caved to a reported U.K. government’s demand to prevent users from using end-to-end encryption in iCloud.

Apple users in the United Kingdom will no longer have access to a key data security feature for iCloud storage: Advanced Data Protection. It’s a relatively small change, but privacy experts worry it could have ripple effects for data privacy around the world.

Apple has withdrawn its Advanced Data Protection iCloud feature from the United Kingdom following government demands for backdoor access to

Security officials argue that encryption hinders criminal investigations, while tech firms defend it as essential to user privacy.

The UK's demand for an encryption backdoor in iCloud, and Apple's response, have repercussions that go far beyond national borders, threatening user privacy and security worldwide.

Apple is removing the option to enable Advanced Data Protection for iCloud users in the United Kingdom. This feature let users fully protect their data stored in iCloud with end-to-end encryption.