The United Kingdom has stepped back from its controversial demand that Apple provide a “back door” to encrypted customer data after pressure from the Trump administration, Financial Times sources report, effectively ending a diplomatic dispute between London and Washington.
Tulsi Gabbard, Donald Trump’s director of national intelligence, told the Financial Times that the UK had “agreed to drop” its request that Apple enable access to “the protected encrypted data of American citizens,” a move that President Trump had previously compared to Chinese-style surveillance.
Vice President JD Vance, who recently visited the UK, played a key role in negotiating the withdrawal. A US official stated, “The vice-president negotiated a mutually beneficial understanding that the UK government will withdraw the current back-door order to Apple.”
The order, issued in January under the UK Investigatory Powers Act, sought to compel Apple to unlock encrypted data stored in its iCloud system, which even Apple itself is normally unable to access. Both Gabbard and Vance opposed the mandate, citing civil liberties concerns and the protection of American citizens’ private data.
Although the UK has agreed to rescind the order, it has not yet been formally withdrawn. Officials from both countries said the dispute has now been resolved following meetings between UK representatives and senior US officials, including Vice President Vance.
“Over the past few months, I’ve been working closely with our partners in the UK, alongside President Trump and Vice President Vance, to ensure Americans’ private data remains private and our constitutional rights and civil liberties are protected,” Gabbard told the Financial Times.
Apple had already taken measures in response to the UK order, withdrawing its most secure cloud storage service in the country, iCloud Advanced Data Protection, in February. The company emphasized that it has never built a back door or master key for any of its products or services and plans to contest the demand in the Investigatory Powers Tribunal early next year.
The UK’s retreat highlights Prime Minister Starmer’s effort to minimize tensions with Washington, particularly on issues crucial to the US, such as trade relations and support for Ukraine. Critics have long argued that the UK Investigatory Powers Act, sometimes called a “snooper’s charter,” overreaches by granting British authorities extraterritorial powers to access data worldwide. The UK government defends the law as necessary for combating terrorism and child sexual abuse.
The Home Office stressed that joint UK-US intelligence arrangements include safeguards to prevent either country from targeting the data of the other’s citizens. “We will continue to build on those arrangements, and we will also continue to take all actions necessary at the domestic level to keep UK citizens safe,” a spokesperson said.
