Britain has dropped its request for access to Apple users’ encrypted data, which had created friction between London and Washington, US intelligence chief Tulsi Gabbard said Tuesday.<\/p>\n
The UK government wanted the tech giant to create a “back door” to let authorities snoop on data uploaded by Apple users if required, for example by law enforcement agencies.<\/p>\n
Gabbard said the request “would have enabled access to the protected encrypted data of American citizens and encroached on our civil liberties”.<\/p>\n
Many tech platforms pride themselves on being able to guarantee privacy through encryption of messages and other content, and providing access to law enforcement has long been seen as off-limits.<\/p>\n
The UK “agreed to drop its mandate” after months of work with US President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance, Gabbard posted on X.<\/p>\n
The UK interior ministry declined to comment, telling AFP that “We do not comment on operational matters.”<\/p>\n
Apple stopped offering its most advanced encryption feature — known as Advanced Data Protection — for British users in February.<\/p>\n
ADP ensures that only account holders can view content such as photos and documents stored in the cloud through end-to-end encryption.<\/p>\n
Police officials worldwide say encryption can shield criminals, terrorists and pornographers from prosecution even when authorities have a legal warrant for an investigation.<\/p>\n
But civil rights and privacy advocates, along with many cybersecurity professionals, praise data encryption as a way to protect against wrongful snooping by authorities as well as hackers.<\/p>\n
Apple said earlier this year that it had never built a “back door” or “master key” for any of its products or services, and never would.<\/p>\n
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