National Intelligence director Tulsi Gabbard says the changes support the privacy of US users.
Apple said that once British governments are no longer forced to provide access to encrypted data for American citizens, Washington’s spy chief signalled the end of a month-long transatlantic privacy line.
Tulsi Gabbard, the US National Intelligence Director, said on Monday that London agreed to drop the requirement to allow Apple to access protected data for US users and provide a “back door” that “invaded civil liberties.”
Gabbard said the reversal was the result of months of involvement with the UK, which “ensures that private data for Americans remain private, protecting constitutional rights and civil liberties.”
The UK government has not commented on operational issues, but said London and Washington have long-standing joint security and information arrangements, including security measures to protect privacy.
“We are based on these arrangements and we will continue to maintain a strong security framework so that we can continue to pursue terrorists and serious criminals operating in the UK,” a government spokesperson said.
“We will always take all the necessary actions at the national level to keep our UK citizens safe.”
Apple did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The UK’s encryption climb comes after Apple announced in February that it could no longer provide advanced data protection, the country’s highest level of security feature.
Although Apple did not provide any reason for the change at the time, the announcement came after the Washington Post reported that a UK security officer secretly ordered the California-based tech giant to provide blanket access to cloud data belonging to users around the world.
Under the UK’s Right to Research Act, authorities can force businesses to remove encryption under what is called “technical competency notifications.”
Any company that receives a notice will be legally bound by the orders confidentially unless otherwise permitted by the government.
Like other tech giants, Apple sells the use of end-to-end encryption as evidence of its unwavering commitment to user privacy.
End-to-end encryption scrambles data and cannot be read by third parties, including law enforcement agencies and the tech companies themselves.
Governments around the world have made many attempts to undermine or bypass encryption, claiming to protect serious offenders from scrutiny.
Privacy experts and civil liberty advocates have denounced efforts to undermine technology, claiming that innocent people are treated as potential criminals and endanger the privacy and security of all users.
