The United States is hailing an agreement with the United Kingdom over the U.K.’s retreat from what the Financial Times called “a controversial demand for Apple,” which Vice President JD Vance was involved in pushing back against.
The news outlet cited Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard regarding that the U.K. has “agreed to drop” the demand that Apple provide access to “the protected, encrypted data of American citizens.”
In addition to Gabbard’s role, according to the report, Vance, who was in Britain last week, “intervened to ensure Britain agreed to withdraw an order that sought to force Apple to break open encrypted data stored in its iCloud system that even the iPhone maker itself is normally unable to access.”
“The vice president negotiated a mutually beneficial understanding that the U.K. government will withdraw the current backdoor order to Apple,” a U.S. official is quoted in the report as saying.
The order from the U.K. initially came down in January under the UK Investigatory Powers Act, but it was resisted by Apple, Gabbard, and Vance.
During his time thus far as vice president, Vance has not been shy about his concerns for privacy and free speech, especially as it relates to the U.K. and to Europe as a whole.
Vance has traveled to Europe for speeches on those topics, which included singling out the U.K. The Trump administration overall has likewise expressed similar concerns. During his recent visit abroad, Vance once again raised concerns about free speech.
The vice president’s collaborations with Gabbard go beyond their shared concerns about the U.K.’s demands of Apple. Vance rallied support for her Senate confirmation to her post as DNI back in February.
In addition to sharing coverage from FT.com in a repost over the social media platform X, Gabbard’s DNI account had more to say.
The Daily Signal reached out to the White House for further comment, but didn’t hear back by the time of publication.
The post UK Backs Down on Demand for Access to Apple Users’ Data Amid US Pushback appeared first on The Daily Signal.
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Author: Rebecca Downs
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