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.
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
This is the latest (and unexpected) development in a months-long saga that saw the British government secretly demanding Apple 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.
