Tulsi Gabbard, Trump’s director of national intelligence, said the UK has agreed to drop its demand that Apple provide Americans‘ encrypted data.
The United Kingdom (UK) agreed Tuesday to drop its demand that Apple provide Americans’ encrypted data. President Donald Trump’s director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, confirmed the backdown.
Vice President JD Vance led the charge in the negotiations to drop its demand for Americans’ private data. Vance, working with UK partners, successfully negotiated an agreement that the UK government would withdraw the backdoor order to Apple.
Gabbard told the Financial Times the UK government “agreed to drop” its demand that Apple provide access to “encrypted data of American citizens,” which President Donald Trump had compared to Chinese surveillance.
The deal between the Trump administration and the UK helps maintain each country’s sovereignty while ensuring cooperation on data sharing, according to a U.S. official.
The U.S. official said that Vance has taken a strong interest in this issue because of his background in technology, his concern for privacy, and his commitment to a strong UK-U.S. partnership.
Vance has also accused European countries of suppressing free speech and unfairly disadvantaging American companies.
One British official said that issue was “settled,” while another said the UK government “caved” to American pressure.
