SAN FRANCISCO: The Trump administration has reached an agreement with Britain to spare Apple from a request that the company create a tool to give British law enforcement organizations access to customers’ cloud data.
Tulsi Gabbard, the US director of national intelligence, said in a social media post Monday night that Britain had “agreed to drop its mandate for Apple to provide a ‘back door’ that would have enabled access to the protected encrypted data of American citizens and encroached on our civil liberties.”
Britain’s decision to back off the policy comes after Apple spent months lobbying officials in Washington and rolled back an encrypted storage feature for British users. In the face of government pressure around the world, the company has been resolute that it won’t create a back door that allows access to phones or encrypted user data because it is afraid such a tool could be abused.
Apple didn’t respond to requests for comment, nor did the British Home Office.
Bloomberg earlier reported on Gabbard’s post.
Much of Apple’s predicament in Britain played out in private after the government issued a secret order this year. The request came after Britain amended its Investigatory Powers Act of 2016, which allows it to compel companies to turn over data and communications to law enforcement and intelligence agencies.
Apple helped make the secret order public by declaring in February that iPhone users in Britain would begin seeing messages on their phones saying that the company no longer offered its Advanced Data Protection feature. The capability, which remained available in the United States, had allowed British users to encrypt almost all of their iCloud data, including messages, notes, photos and iPhone backups.
Before removing the feature, Apple protested Britain’s amendments to the Investigatory Powers Act. The company also appealed to the Biden and Trump administrations for help, saying it feared that complying with the British government’s order would give the country’s intelligence services access to users’ data around the world.
Gabbard said Britain’s agreement to drop its plans would “ensure Americans’ private data remains private and our Constitutional rights and civil liberties are protected.” – ©2025 The New York Times Company
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
