The UK authorities’s continued makes an attempt to achieve entry to iCloud customers’ non-public knowledge have prompted U.S. lawmakers to request a briefing concerning the concern.
Apple is an organization broadly recognized and infrequently praised for its privacy-first strategy, however typically that exact same philosophy is at odds with the objectives of world governments. The iPhone maker famously fought in opposition to an FBI request for an encryption backdoor, and it did the identical when the UK got here up with comparable calls for of its personal.
The drama surrounding the UK’s seemingly unending pursuit of iCloud person knowledge continues. On Wednesday, two U.S. lawmakers, U.S. Home Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan and International Affairs Chair Brian Mast, requested that the UK authorities maintain a briefing about its deliberate iCloud encryption backdoor.
As Reuters notes, the 2 lawmakers raised issues over the UK’s efforts, suggesting that an encryption backdoor might permit person knowledge to fall into the fingers of authoritarian governments and cyber-criminals. They highlighted the necessity for public consciousness on the matter.
“For there to be a ‘mature and knowledgeable public debate,’ it’s crucial that the Committees absolutely perceive the actions taken by the UK authorities with respect to the TCN issued to Apple,” mentioned Jordan and Mast in a letter to Shabana Mahmood, Britain’s secretary of state for the House Division. TCN right here stands for technical functionality discover.
“We respectfully ask that the House Workplace and UK Embassy to the US prepare for the briefing to happen as quickly as potential, however no later than 10:00 a.m. ET on March 11, 2026,” continued the letter.
Whereas it stays to be seen how the UK authorities will reply, the letter will not be the primary time US lawmakers and authorities officers have criticized the nation’s makes an attempt at securing an encryption backdoor for iCloud.
How the UK authorities tried to achieve entry to iCloud person knowledge
The UK first despatched Apple a requirement for an encryption backdoor in January 2025, after a revised model of the Investigatory Powers Act was handed. The transfer sparked bipartisan anger amongst US lawmakers, with choose members of congressional oversight committees writing to Tulsi Gabbard, the Nationwide Intelligence Director, concerning the concern.
Apple has maintained its dedication to person privateness over time. Picture Credit score: Apple.
The identical month, Gabbard, in her response, expressed “nice concern,” saying the US was not knowledgeable of the UK’s secret order. Quite than complying with the UK’s calls for for an encryption backdoor, Apple disabled Superior Information Safety within the nation.
Months later, in March 2025, Apple allegedly fought the UK authorities’s confidential request on the Excessive Courtroom. Apple later gained the ethical help of WhatsApp and choose U.S. lawmakers in June 2025.
In August 2025, the UK appeared to have dropped its calls for for entry to encrypted Messages, in line with a social media publish by Tulsi Gabbard. The UK authorities, in the meantime, didn’t concern statements relating to the matter, at the same time as the complete scope of its backdoor demand was revealed.
Whereas the UK seemingly gave up on its intent to entry the information of all iCloud customers worldwide, it nonetheless needs to entry the iCloud knowledge and recordsdata of British residents. In September 2025, a UK House Workplace order allegedly demanded that Apple create a approach for officers to entry encrypted cloud backups.
Total, it is unlikely that the federal government of the UK will ever have the ability to entry the non-public knowledge of each iCloud person the world over.
Nonetheless, its persistent curiosity in encryption backdoors continues to achieve the eye of U.S. lawmakers, as we noticed on Wednesday.
