UK agrees to drop its Apple encryption backdoor request – but digital rights experts aren't ready to celebrate

• The UK has agreed to drop its request for an encryption backdoor into Apple's iCloud, according to the US Director of National Intelligence
• The power to undermine encryption, however, remains in the UK law under the Investigatory Powers Act
• Apple killed iCloud's end-to-end encryption feature in the UK in February, and then challenged the order in Court

The UK has agreed to back down on its request to create an encryption backdoor into Apple's iCloud system for authorities to access.

The US Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, confirmed the UK U-turn in a post on X on Monday, August 18, 2025, adding that such a backdoor "would have enabled access to the protected encrypted data of American citizens and encroached on our civil liberties."

While welcoming the decision, digital rights experts aren't quite ready to call it a victory. The ...