The Cabinet Office has confirmed that UK restrictions preventing Apple users from enabling Advanced Data Protection have no impact on government issued devices.
Responding to a written question from Rushen MHK Dr Michelle Haywood, Minister David Ashford said the Government Transformation Service carried out an assessment in 2025 after Apple withdrew the enhanced iCloud encryption feature in the UK.
The review concluded that the change does not affect the security of any Manx government Apple devices.
All government issued iPhones and iPads are centrally managed through enterprise grade mobile device management systems, which block the use of personal Apple IDs, prevent access to iCloud storage, and ensure all data remains within secure, controlled environments.
The Minister summarised that Advanced Data Protection applies only to consumer iCloud accounts, that Government devices do not use iCloud, and that no government device security has been compromised as a result of Apple’s changes.
