Mandate Dropped

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

… 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.

Great job @DNIGabbard .

The UK's demand for an encryption backdoor, was specifically directed at Apple's Advanced Data Protection (ADP) feature for iCloud backups. This optional service uses end-to-end encryption (E2EE), meaning only the user holds the decryption keys, and…

— Matt (@MatthewPhone) August 19, 2025

… neither Apple nor third parties (including governments) can access the data. Reports indicate the UK issued a secret "technical capability notice" under its Investigatory Powers Act (IPA) in early 2025, seeking blanket access to encrypted iCloud data worldwide, which Apple resisted by appealing the order and eventually disabling ADP for UK users rather than complying. This led to the US government's intervention, including negotiations by Gabbard, resulting in the UK dropping the mandate.

Google, however, has publicly confirmed it has not received any similar demand from the UK government for a backdoor into its encrypted services, such as Android device backups or Google Drive data.