Yes. The most commonly cited instances of theft - let's say - involve cars. Not all cars are, or ever have been, stolen.Sometimes it's difficult to tell--it certainly seems that some of the most-commonly-cited uses of force involve unrevealed backstory.
Start with the map-and-key example: player declares I look for secret doors. If the GM answers by reference to the key, that's not Force - guessing or figuring out the secrets of the map is part of play. To put it another way, there's no principle that says every search demands a check.A serious question: Outside of something with a keyed map of some sort (like a dungeon or a hexcrawl) how could one use unrevealed backstory in a way that wasn't force? I guess using it to frame a situation wouldn't be force (leaving aside any debate/s about situation-first or backstory-first). I think I've seen it said that using unrevealed backstory to adjudicate action resolution is force--is this only true if the GM is using that unrevealed backstory to point the narrative of the game in a specific direction, or toward a specific outcome?
Consider a different sort of sandbox-y example: the notes say that the Ogre in the Hill Cave hates Halflings, and always attacks them. The players have failed to learn that stuff (eg they didn't pick up the right rumour, or do the right divination) and so the Halfling PC approaches the Ogre hoping to get information from it. But the GM decides the Ogre attacks. I don't think that's Force - again, guessing or figuring out the "unrevealed backstory" is part of play.
If the backstory is so complex and evolving that it's not realistic to think the players can figure it out, that becomes a bit different I think: it's not necessarily Force, but it might be a pretty frustrating game.
But if the GM places a Halfling-hating Ogre because they know the PCs use the Halfling as their "face", so that the players will be discourage from taking such-and-such an approach to the ingame situation and will instead go about things this other way . . . well, to me that looks a bit Force-ish (in this case, using authority over backstory to generate pressure on how the players exercise their authority over action declaration for their PCs).