UK will back down over its demands on Apple for an encryption backdoor
Faced with US pressure, the UK is reportedly looking for a way out of its own demands for an iOS backdoor, without also limiting its future ambitions.
UK Parliament -- image credit: UK Government
In 2024, the UK changed its own laws so that it could demand Apple give it complete access to all iPhone user data worldwide. It also invoked what's known as the Snoopers' Charter, which meant it was legally able to prevent Apple from even revealing the request.
Apple did, though, cause the issue to be revealed by switching off its Advanced Data Protection for UK users, and also lobbying the US government.
Now according to the UK's Financial Times, officials within the local government say the country is likely to withdraw its order. Alongside other senior US leaders including Trump, the sources say that the climb down is because of pressure from JD Vance.
"This is something that the vice-president is very annoyed about and which needs to be resolved," said one source, reported to be an official in the UK's technology department. "The Home Office is basically going to have to back down."
Another said that "it's a problem of the Home Office's own making, and they're working on a way around it now."
However, a further source said that "at this point, the government has not backed down."
What the UK wanted
Ostensibly, the UK wanted Apple to create a backdoor into its encryption so that government officials could read any data they deemed necessary in criminal investigations. What the UK asked for was worldwide access, which is part of what has enraged the US.
Arguably what the UK really wanted was for Apple to do what it did and remove certain protections from the UK. If so, it got what it wanted, but there are ramifications.
With UK data such as messaging less protected than anywhere else in the world, it's harder for anywhere else in the world to deal with the UK. In February 2025, it was reported that US Intelligence Services could reduce or stop sharing data with the UK.
What happens next
By looking for a way to back out of the demand, the unnamed British officials do not only mean that the UK wants to save face. Reportedly, there is concern that any climbdown will have some unspecified impact on the UK's plans regarding AI.
This is another area of controversy for the UK, whose government wants to give US companies free access to copyright material for AI training. The idea is that this will somehow grow the AI industry in the UK, when in practice it will just aid existing US firms and irrevocably damage the country's hugely successful arts industries.
At present, the UK is officially considering the responses received to its open consultation process. AI laws are nonetheless expected to come into practice in 2026.
In the shorter term, Trump is expected to visit the UK before the end of July 2025. That is also when another unpopular UK law is due to come into effect, one that would attempt to add further regulations and potential fines on Apple and Google.
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Comments
I look forward to the climb down.A problem completely of your own making Home Office. An outrageous short sighted entitled underhand demand.
Now back down and show everyone you haven't got a clue what you are doing.
Clueless and cannot be trusted.
Governments worldwide, in collaboration with influential citizens (the Elite), seek a concealed access mechanism (a “back door”) that enables them to conduct surveillance without judicial warrants. This would allow them to monitor the activities of common citizens, on their electronic devices. It is imperative that citizens start to hold these governments accountable for their actions at the ballot box.
However that won’t happen because those lower down the ladder (in all western countries) will suffer any indignity if they believe that they already are part of the elite and believe they won’t suffer any consequences it’s the other poor guy not me, many also hold on and believe at the last minute they can just squirm into the upper echelon ie... random Americans in the red zone, Dearborn, Michigan or someone like Vivek Ramaswamy in short the battle is already lost before it even started.
By extension Apple will be/has been petitioned to add back doors for the privileged elite even if that means, making a worse product against the wishes of their customers.
Kier can’t help himself and neither can the rest of the so-called Elite….
The second paragraph is the stuff of irony given the recent US WhatsApp group sharing controversies.. *cough* Pete Hegseth *cough* 😏
The Jurassic Park/World series are basically popcorn Frankenstein movies, whose intrinsic message is anti-science, while showing us some cool dinosaurs to suck in the kids and adults. And the villains in the movies inevitably went down the capitalist billionaire archtype. Ok, but Tim Cook? Like the worst that can be said about him is he doesn't give developers a good deal in the App Store? He says no to too many tech demo products?
Wonder if the writers or producers have made any comment on why? They could have chosen so many other "billionaires" who are doing crazy shit. Some are most certainly funding life extension technology in some form or another, which is basically the motivator behind some of the Jurassic movies. Tim Cook does have a distinctive look which makes him very recognizable, and he is quite well known, but Jurassic World Dominion got it all wrong with styling the villain after him.