Apple wins fight as as UK abandons Apple iCloud backdoor mandate

[midian182]

What just happened? The UK has abandoned its push to force Apple to build a backdoor into its encrypted services, a retreat that highlights the high-stakes battle between government surveillance powers and consumer privacy. Tulsi Gabbard, US Director of National Intelligence, confirmed the reversal, validating reports that London was quietly seeking to defuse the controversy after months of pressure from Apple, security experts, and Washington.

Writing in a post on X, Gabbard said she had been working closely with the UK, President Trump, and Vice-President Vance to reach a deal that ensures Americans' private data remains private and our Constitutional rights and civil liberties are protected.

Over the past few months, I've been working closely with our partners in the UK, alongside @POTUS and @VP, to ensure Americans' private data remains private and our Constitutional rights and civil liberties are protected.

As a result, the UK has agreed to drop its mandate for…

– DNI Tulsi Gabbard (@DNIGabbard) August 19, 2025

In January, the British government issued Apple with a "technical capability notice" that demanded a backdoor be built into its encrypted iCloud services, thereby allowing agencies to access backups of any global customer without a court order.

Rather than compromising the security of its users globally, the company decided the best course of action was to remove its Advanced Data Protection (ADP) option for new UK users, with existing ADP users disabling the feature manually during a grace period.

Security experts warned that any backdoor would inevitably become a security risk, one that would threaten Apple users around the world.

It was reported in July that the UK government was looking for a way to back out of the situation as it was worried about retaliation from the Trump administration, especially as the two countries engaged in sensitive trade talks.

VP Vance has been a loud critic of the UK's demand, calling the idea of creating a "backdoor in our own technology networks" that enemies could exploit "crazy." Trump, meanwhile, had urged UK Prime Minister Starmer not to introduce anything that breaks encrypted communications.

In February, Gabbard said that US officials were examining whether the UK had violated the CLOUD Act with its demands on Apple. The Act states that the UK may not issue demands for data of US citizens, nationals, or lawful permanent residents, nor may it demand data from persons located inside the United States.

In April, it was confirmed that Apple was going to trial with the UK government. Cupertino secured an early win in the legal battle when the UK Investigatory Powers Tribunal dismissed an attempt to have details of the case kept private.

Apple has fought hard against demands from law enforcement and governments that it believes threatens user security, from the 2016 San Bernardino iPhone incident to the 2023 threat of removing FaceTime and iMessage in the UK over its updated security laws in 2023.

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Apple wins fight as as UK abandons Apple iCloud backdoor mandate

 

[Theinsanegamer]

Now if only the Internet could use that backbone to tell the UK off on this age ID thing.

 

[Anton Longshot]

The people behind this insane scheme probably discovered their own phones are iPhones. Oops!

 

[human7]

Now if only the Internet could use that backbone to tell the UK off on this age ID thing.

The U.S., too.

 

[Mr Majestyk]

It's hard to come to a conclusion of which government is more reprehensible, US or UK. Both are sick sad joke. When you are cheering for a tech giant you know the system is entirely broken.

 

[Lozzy]

It's hard to come to a conclusion of which government is more reprehensible, US or UK. Both are sick sad joke. When you are cheering for a tech giant you know the system is entirely broken.

Oh that's EASY. Not defending the UK gov, but there's no contest at the minute. Only one of them is sucking up to a murderous dictator, detaining its own citizens for no reason, and giving massive tax breaks to billionaires, for starters. I could go on.

 

[MiqWalsh]

Although a Brit, I'm not taking sides one way OR the other on this one. I do, however, wish my country's government would finally wake up, smell the roses, figure out which way the wind is blowing and realize that the UK is not now - and in fact hasn't been for quite some time - in any KIND of position to call the shots on the world stage any more.

I'm not being pessimistic, or unpatriotic. I'm merely being realistic. Too many of my countrymen live with their heads up their backsides because it suits them to do so, looking fondly back - through rose-tinted glasses - a couple of centuries to when Britain ruled the Empire, everybody kow-towed to us, and the whole of Europe was basically run by one single intermarried, inbred, extended family.

That last is no longer the case.......but too many Brits won't have it, STILL living in some glorified fantasy version of the past.

I will confess, however, to finding it rather worrying when a single private company has so MUCH money, power & influence that it can smack-down & stomp all over entire governments in the courts. That's.....concerning.

Miq.