Comment by GeekyBear

You've always been able to perform encrypted backups to your own local PC or Mac out of the box, so people who do care about privacy have always had that option.

One thing I've found concerning is that Apple had encrypted cloud backups ready to roll out years ago, but delayed releasing the feature when the US government objected.

> After years of delay under government pressure, Apple said Wednesday that it will offer fully encrypted backups of photos, chat histories and most other sensitive user data in its cloud storage system worldwide, putting them out of reach of most hackers, spies and law enforcement.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/12/07/icloud-...

So the UK government isn't the only government that has objected to users having real privacy protections.