British authorities will no longer force Apple to create backdoor access to its users’ data, US intelligence chief Tulsi Gabbard said. She written in it that they, President Trump and Vice President Vance have been working closely with their “partners in the UK” in recent months. “As a result,” he continued, “the UK agreed to give up its mandate for Apple to provide a ‘backdoor’ that would allow access to protected encrypted data of US citizens and infringe on our civil liberties.”
IF New York Times notes that the UK government issued the secret order earlier this year following an amendment to the Investigatory Powers Act 2016. The law gives the UK government the power to compel companies to share data with law enforcement and intelligence agencies. However, reports of this mandate surfaced in February, and Apple largely confirmed this by disabling iCloud’s enhanced privacy feature in the UK. ADP allows users to add optional end-to-end encryption to various iCloud data, meaning authorities can’t access the information unless they have their hands on the user’s device. “As we’ve said multiple times, we have never, and never will, build a backdoor or master key into any of our products or services,” Apple said at the time.
A bipartisan group of US lawmakers called on Gabbard to take action to prevent a “politically motivated foreign cyberattack” after information about the order became public. Meanwhile, Apple has filed a complaint with the Investigatory Powers Tribunal (IPT), which “investigates complaints relating to alleged conduct by public authorities against members of the public”, requesting that the order be revoked. The company has yet to make an official statement about the lifting of the UK mandate.