Britain caves in to Trump demands on Apple security ‘backdoor’

Yvette Cooper’s order required Apple to break the end-to-end encryption securing iPhone backups - James Manning/PA Wire

Yvette Cooper has dropped a controversial demand for a “backdoor” into people’s iPhones under pressure from the White House.

Tulsi Gabbard, Donald Trump’s director of national intelligence, said the UK had agreed to withdraw an order to Apple that it made earlier this year.

It comes after President Trump and his vice-president, JD Vance, demanded that the Government drop its plans.

The order required Apple to break the end-to-end encryption it uses to secure iPhone backups that include a person’s photos and messages, potentially allowing security services access to the content of suspects’ iPhones.

Privacy campaigners had said the creation of a backdoor would have jeopardised millions of people’s security.

“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,” Ms Gabbard said on X.

“As a result, the UK 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.”

The Home Office and Apple were contacted for comment.

The Government order was the first known demand to break encryption under surveillance laws that have been dubbed a “Snooper’s Charter”.

Ministers have never confirmed the existence of a so-called technical capability notice, but government lawyers appeared in a secret court hearing in March after Apple challenged the order.

Mr Trump had criticised the Government over the matter, saying it was like “something that you hear about with China”.

Apple removed the “advanced data protection” system for British users in February but was still subject to the Home Office order, which applies worldwide, and had appealed to the Investigatory Powers Tribunal.

In a blow to the Government, the panel ruled that the case would not have blanket secrecy after a legal challenge from media organisations including The Telegraph.

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