US spy chief says UK has dropped its Apple backdoor demand

The U.K has dropped its demand for special access to Apple’s cloud systems, or a “backdoor,” following negotiations with the Trump administration, according to U.S. National Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard. 

“As a result, the U.K. has agreed to drop its mandate for Apple to provide a ‘back door’ that would have enabled access to the protected encrypted data of American citizens and encroached on our civil liberties,” Gabbard wrote in a post on X. She also claimed that she worked along President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance in the negotiations.

This is the latest (and unexpected) development in a months-long saga that saw the British government secretly demanding Apple to grant its authorities access — essentially asking for a backdoor — to the encrypted data of iCloud users, effectively anywhere in the world, particularly those who turn on Advanced Data Protection (or ADP), an opt-in security feature. ADP turns on end-to-end encryption for iCloud, meaning only the user can access their files stored on Apple’s cloud servers. 

The existence of the legal demand was first reported by The Washington Post in February, which was made under the U.K.’s Investigatory Powers Act 2016, also known as the Snoopers’ Charter. The request sparked outrage and condemnation from privacy and security experts worldwide, who argued that if the U.K. government obtained what it wanted, it would weaken privacy for the whole world, and also open the door for more governments to make similar demands, even in other companies’ technologies. 

Apple initially responded by removing ADP from the U.K., meaning new users couldn’t turn it on. The company also said it would give guidance to existing users who “will eventually need to disable this security feature.”

In the meantime, Apple also reportedly challenged the backdoor mandate in court, a case that was initially secret but was then ruled to be held in public. 

Apple and the U.K. Home Office, which initiated the demand on behalf of the British government, did not respond to requests for comment. 

Olivia Colemanm, the press secretary of the U.S. Office of the Director of National Intelligence, referred to a February letter to Sen. Wyden and Rep. Biggs. 

Apple previously told TechCrunch that the company has “never built a backdoor or master key” to any of its products or services and it “never will.”