UK, US hold private talks to resolve Apple encryption order: Report

British officials held backstage talks with their U.S. counterparts to resoluteness concerns that UK is trying to unit Apple to physique a backdoor into Americans' encrypted data, Bloomberg News reported connected Thursday, citing radical acquainted with the matter.

The study astir backstage discussions comes aft Apple removed its most-advanced information encryption for unreality data, known arsenic Advanced Data Protection, successful Britain past month.

The determination was an unprecedented effect to authorities demands for idiosyncratic information access.

The removal of encryption gives the iPhone shaper entree to iCloud backups successful definite cases that it different could not, specified arsenic copies of iMessages, and manus it implicit to authorities if legally compelled.

With end-to-end encryption enabled, adjacent Apple could not entree the data.

Apple and Britain's Home Office did not instantly respond to a Reuters petition for comment.

Governments and tech giants person agelong been locked successful a conflict implicit beardown encryption to support consumers' communications, which the authorities presumption arsenic an obstacle to wide surveillance and transgression warring programs. But Britain's demands are considered peculiarly extensive.

Reuters reported successful precocious February that U.S. officials were examining whether the U.K. broke agreements betwixt the 2 nations with a reported request that Apple make a "back door" for authorities entree to encrypted unreality retention systems.

In a missive dated February 25 to 2 U.S. lawmakers, Tulsi Gabbard, the U.S. manager of nationalist intelligence, said the U.S. is investigating whether the UK authorities had violated the CLOUD Act, which bars it from issuing demands for the information of U.S. citizens and vice versa.

Gabbard's bureau could not instantly beryllium reached for a comment.

On Friday, Apple’s entreaty against the UK bid volition beryllium heard astatine a concealed proceeding astatine London's High Court, the BBC reported.

Published - March 14, 2025 10:33 americium IST