UK drops Apple encryption demands, says US spy chief

The UK authorities has dropped its demands to make a backdoor into Apple's encryption, according to the US quality main Tulsi Gabbard.

In a station connected X successful the aboriginal hours of Tuesday, Ms Gabbard said the UK had withdrawn its request to entree planetary Apple users' information if required.

She wrote: "The UK has agreed to driblet its mandate for Apple to supply a 'back door' that would person enabled entree to the protected encrypted information of American citizens and encroached connected our civilian liberties."

The US spy main said it was the effect of months of moving intimately with partners successful the UK, US President Donald Trump and vice president JD Vance.

In February, determination were reports the authorities had ordered Apple to create a mode for UK information services to entree its encrypted idiosyncratic data.

Such orders, called Technical Capability Notices (TCN), are not nationalist and legally, neither of the parties tin publically corroborate their existence.

Apple soon withdrew its "advanced information protection" diagnostic for UK users, which offered end-to-end encryption for unreality information storage, meaning lone the relationship holder could spot immoderate stored data.

Apple has not responded to a Sky News petition for remark connected Ms Gabbard's post.

A UK authorities spokesperson told Sky News it does not remark connected operational matters.

They did say, however, that it had agelong had "joint information and quality arrangements with the US to tackle the astir superior threats specified arsenic coercion and kid intersexual abuse, including the relation played by fast-moving exertion successful enabling those threats".

"Those arrangements person agelong contained safeguards to support privateness and sovereignty: for example, the Data Access Agreement includes captious safeguards to forestall the UK and US from targeting the information of each other's citizens," they said.

"We volition proceed to physique connected those arrangements and we volition besides proceed to support a beardown information model to guarantee that we tin proceed to prosecute terrorists and superior criminals operating successful the UK. We volition ever instrumentality each actions indispensable astatine the home level to support UK citizens safe," they added.

When Apple withdrew its precocious information extortion successful February, a spokesperson said it had "withdrawn the diagnostic fixed the continuing emergence of information breaches and different threats to lawsuit privacy".

The US authorities soon stepped in, with Ms Gabbard saying she had "grave concerns" astir the UK oregon immoderate different state "requiring Apple oregon immoderate institution to make a 'backdoor' that would let entree to Americans' idiosyncratic encrypted data".

She added: "This would beryllium a wide and egregious usurpation of Americans' privateness and civilian liberties, and unfastened up a superior vulnerability for cyber exploitation by adversarial actors."

She asked the CIA, NSA and aggregate different US quality agencies to analyse the reported TCN.

Read much from technology:
Backlash against caller online information rules
Musk's X wants 'significant' changes to OSA

On Tuesday, civilian rights groups cautiously welcomed Ms Gabbard's post.

"If true, this determination is hugely welcome," said Sam Grant, manager of outer relations astatine quality rights organisation Liberty, who are challenging the government's usage of the TCN successful court.

"Creating immoderate backmost doorway into our backstage information would beryllium a reckless and perchance unlawful determination from the government.

"As agelong arsenic this powerfulness exists wrong the Investigatory Powers Act, it remains a hazard that immoderate aboriginal authorities mightiness besides effort to usage it to make a backmost doorway into different end-to-end encrypted services we each use.

"The safest happening for the UK Government to bash is repeal this law, and perpetrate to safeguarding our privateness by protecting end-to-end encryption."

Open Rights Group enforcement manager Jim Killock said: "While the UK whitethorn person dropped its demands for Apple to backdoor each of its users crossed the globe, UK users whitethorn inactive beryllium banned from benefiting from ADP encryption.

"And if Apple does reconstruct ADP to UK users, determination volition beryllium superior questions of trust.

"The UK's powers to onslaught encryption are inactive connected the instrumentality books, and airs a superior hazard to idiosyncratic information and extortion against transgression maltreatment of our data."