The United Kingdom has reportedly withdrawn its controversial demand for Apple to create a “back door” into its encrypted services, following pressure from Washington.
US Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said in a post on X that the UK had agreed to drop its request, which she warned would have undermined the security of American citizens and posed a significant threat to civil liberties.
The notice, issued under the UK’s Investigatory Powers Act in December, had instructed Apple to grant authorities the ability to access encrypted data from users around the world. Such a move would have required the company to weaken its own encryption systems, including Advanced Data Protection (ADP), which prevents even Apple from accessing customer files once enabled.
Apple resisted the order, saying it had “never built a backdoor or master key to any of our products or services, and never will.” In response, the company suspended the availability of ADP in the UK and launched a legal challenge that was expected to be heard at a tribunal in early 2026. It remains unclear whether that process will now continue.
While the UK Home Office declined to confirm or deny the existence of the demand, a government spokesperson said the country has “long had joint security and intelligence arrangements with the US to tackle the most serious threats such as terrorism and child sexual abuse, including the role played by fast-moving technology in enabling those threats.”
Privacy campaigners, who had fiercely opposed the proposed backdoor, welcomed reports of the reversal. Sam Grant of civil rights group Liberty described the original demand as “reckless and potentially unlawful,” warning that it would have exposed citizens, including campaigners and minority groups, to heightened surveillance risks.
Jim Killock, executive director of the Open Rights Group, echoed those concerns, noting that “the UK’s powers to attack encryption are still on the law books, and pose a serious risk to user security and protection against criminal abuse of our data.”
Campaigners argue that while Apple may have secured a reprieve, the Investigatory Powers Act continues to give the government wide authority to compel tech firms to weaken encryption, raising fears that future administrations may revisit the issue.
For now, other companies have not confirmed receiving similar notices. Messaging service WhatsApp, used by millions in the UK, has said it has not been issued with any such demand.
The US and UK already have a Data Access Agreement in place, which allows authorities in both countries to request data from one another for law enforcement purposes. Critics say this makes any further attempts to force encryption backdoors unnecessary and dangerously intrusive.
If the withdrawal is confirmed, the decision will be viewed as a victory for privacy advocates who have long argued that compromising encryption would not only weaken individual security but also create systemic vulnerabilities open to exploitation by criminals and hostile actors.
