UK backs down on Apple ‘backdoor’ demand after US pressure

The United Kingdom has backed down its demand that Apple should create a “backdoor” to access encrypted data of American citizens, according to United States Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard.

Gabbard announced on Monday that the decision came after months of negotiations involving the United States, President Donald Trump, and Vice President JD Vance.

The controversial order had drawn criticism from United States lawmakers, who warned that hackers and authoritarian governments could exploit such access.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer was in Washington on Monday, along with other European leaders, for talks with President Trump on the war in Ukraine.

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While a United Kingdom government spokesperson declined to confirm any agreement, they stressed Britain’s commitment to balancing national security with citizens’ privacy.

Apple, which has long insisted it would never create a backdoor in its encrypted devices or services, had challenged the order before the United Kingdom’s Investigatory Powers Tribunal.

The company had also suspended its Advanced Data Protection feature for British users earlier this year in response to the directive.

United States officials had raised concerns that the United Kingdom’s demand might have breached the bilateral CLOUD Act, which prohibits either country from demanding direct access to each other’s citizens’ data.

Cybersecurity experts have consistently warned that creating a backdoor for governments would eventually expose users to criminal exploitation.

Apple has been embroiled in similar encryption disputes since 2016, when it resisted a United States request to unlock the phone of a terror suspect.

(Reuters)