Gabbard says U.K. scraps demand for Apple to give backdoor access to data

An Apple store employee stands inside the store in New York on Feb. 5, 2021. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)

LONDON — Britain abandoned its demand that Apple provide so-called backdoor access to any encrypted user data stored in the cloud, U.S. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said Monday.

Gabbard indicated London and Washington had resolved their high-stakes dispute over electronic privacy, writing on X that she and President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance spent the “past few months” working with the U.K. government.

“As a result, the UK 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,” she said.

The dispute surfaced at the start of the year with a news report that British security officials had issued the U.S. tech giant with a secret order requiring the creation of backdoor access to view fully encrypted material.

Apple challenged the order, which raised fears of electronic spying by national security officials.

The British government reportedly served Apple with what is known as a “technical capability notice” ordering it to provide the access under a sweeping law called the Investigatory Powers Act of 2016, which has been dubbed the snoopers’ charter.

The U.K. Home Office did not respond directly to Gabbard’s statement, saying it “does 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 office said. ”We will always take all actions necessary at the domestic level to keep UK citizens safe.”

Gabbard previously said a demand for backdoor access would violate the rights of Americans and raise concerns about a foreign government pressuring a U.S.-based technology company.

Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The company had reacted to the order by withdrawing its Advanced Data Protection encryption feature for new users in the U.K. and disabling it for existing users.

The opt-in feature protects iCloud files, photos, notes and other data with end-to-end encryption when they are stored in the cloud.

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Associated Press writer Sylvia Hui contributed to this report.

Kelvin Chan, The Associated Press