The UK government has ordered Apple Inc. to build a backdoor to give it access to global user data, in a move that could spark one of the biggest privacy fights in the iPhone maker’s history.

Britain demands Apple provide extensive access to encrypted user data, raising privacy concerns. The request, issued under the Investigatory Powers Act 2016, seeks blanket access rather than specific accounts.

Britain has ordered Apple to give it unprecedentedly broad access to encrypted user data stored on Apple's data cloud, the Washington Post newspaper reported on Friday.