2025-08-19 10:56:58

The UK has reportedly backed down from its Apple data demand.

According to US director of national intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, the UK has agreed to drop its “back door” data policy for the Cupertino tech giant, which forced Apple to weaken encryption on its devices in the country to abide by user protection laws.

Gabbard said on X (formerly Twitter): “Over the past few months, I’ve been working closely with our partners in the UK, alongside @POTUS and @VP, to ensure Americans’ private data remains private and our Constitutional rights and civil liberties are protected.

“As a result, the UK has 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.”

However, Apple has not yet received any formal communication from the US or UK governments on the matter.

A UK government spokesperson told BBC News: “We do not comment on operational matters, including confirming or denying the existence of such notices.

“We have long had joint security and intelligence arrangements with the US to tackle the most serious threats such as terrorism and child sexual abuse, including the role played by fast-moving technology in enabling those threats.”

The dispute centres on the UK’s Investigatory Powers Act (IPA), often called the ‘Snooper’s Charter’, which gives authorities sweeping surveillance powers.

The UK government had been seeking to compel tech companies like Apple, Meta, and WhatsApp to weaken encryption for law enforcement purposes – a move critics warned would undermine user privacy worldwide.

The supposed backtracking on the “back door” data policy will be seen as a significant win for Apple, which has consistently opposed the UK’s proposals.

The company previously argued that “building back doors into products that weaken encryption for millions of law-abiding users would also weaken security for those same users,” adding that the requirement would be “a serious and direct threat to data privacy and security.”

Privacy campaigners have also expressed relief.

Jim Killock, executive director of the Open Rights Group, said: “Forcing companies to create back doors in encrypted services was never going to be workable. The UK’s climbdown is good news for privacy and security.”

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