Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard Suggests UK Broke Agreement in Secretly Demanding That Apple Build iCloud Backdoor

Zac Hall, reporting for 9to5Mac:

According to a letter seen by 9to5Mac, the Trump Administration
is investigating whether the UK may have broken a bilateral
agreement when secretly demanding that Apple build a global
backdoor into iCloud.

Trump’s Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard wrote in a
letter responding to Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon and
Representative Andy Biggs of Arizona that she was not made aware
of the UK’s secret demand by her UK counterparts. However, she
suggested, the UK government may have broken a bilateral privacy
and surveillance agreement in making the demand.

Gabbard’s letter is available here (and I’m hosting a copy). From her letter:

Thank you for your letter dated 13 February 2025 concerning
reported actions by the United Kingdom toward Apple that could
undermine Americans’ privacy and civil liberties at risk. I am
aware of the press reporting that the UK Home Secretary served
Apple with a secret order directing the company to create a “back
door” capability in its iCloud encryption to facilitate UK
government access to any Apple iCloud users’ uploaded data
anywhere in the world. I share your grave concern about the
serious implications of the United Kingdom, or any foreign
country, requiring Apple or any company to create a “backdoor”
that would allow access to Americans personal encrypted data. This
would be a clear and egregious violation of Americans’ privacy and
civil liberties, and open up a serious vulnerability for cyber
exploitation by adversarial actors.

I was not made aware of this reported order, either by the United
Kingdom government or Apple, prior to it being reported in the
media. I have requested my counterparts at CIA, DIA, DHS, FBI and
NSA to provide insights regarding the publicly reported actions,
and will subsequently engage with UK government officials. The
UK’s Investigatory Powers Act of 2016, also known as the Snoopers’
Charter, which I understand would be at issue, allows the UK to
issue a “gag order,” which would prevent Apple or any company from
voicing their concerns with myself, or the public. […]

My lawyers are working to provide a legal opinion on the
implications of the reported UK demands against Apple on the
bilateral Cloud Act agreement. Upon initial review of the U.S. and
U.K. bilateral CLOUD Act Agreement, the United Kingdom may not
issue demands for data of U.S. citizens, nationals, or lawful
permanent residents (“U.S. persons”), nor is it authorized to
demand the data of persons located inside the United States. The
same is true for the United States — it may not use the CLOUD Act
agreement to demand data of any person located in the United
Kingdom.

I’m so pleased by Gabbard’s response here, including making it public, that I’m gladly willing to overlook her “back door”/”backdoor” and “UK”/”U.K.” inconsistencies. (DF style is now to close it up: backdoor.)

Short of the UK backing down and retracting its secret demand for an iCloud backdoor from Apple, this is the best that Apple and privacy advocates could hope for. The gag-order aspect of the UK’s Investigatory Powers Act prevented Apple from even fighting it in court. But a US ruling that would hold it illegal for Apple to comply would put Apple in an impossible situation, where they can’t comply with a UK legal demand without violating the law of the home country. That would actually give Apple the ground to fight this in the UK.

It is not coincidental that UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is set to visit the White House tomorrow. This is a message in advance that the US considers all aspects of this demand on Apple unacceptable.

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Author Of article : John Gruber

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