Snooping law: Is the British government backing down in its dispute with Apple?
The "UK Investigatory Powers Act" was intended to force Apple and other cryptography users to give London access to sensitive data. Now there is movement.
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After massive criticism (and legal countermeasures) from Apple, other operators of messaging platforms such as Signal, and, in particular, the involvement of the US government, the application of a British snooping law could now fail after all. As the Financial Times reports, Labor Prime Minister Keir Starmer's government is currently looking for a “way out” of the dilemma.
Exasperation in Washington: British should back down
According to two well-placed officials, the UK is on the verge of giving in. The UK is desperate to have a backdoor in iOS, which would also mean that the UK's own wimps would have access to customer data from the USA (and the rest of the world). But this is exactly what the US government says it cannot afford. “This is something that the US Vice President [JD Vance] is very upset about, and it needs to be resolved,” a representative from the UK government's technology department told the FT. “The Home Office basically has to back down on this.”
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Technology agreements between the UK and the US would be jeopardized if Apple was forced to break its end-to-end encryption. For the USA, this would be a “thick red line”. The government in Washington does not want “us to mess up with their tech companies”. According to another high-ranking official, the Home Office itself is to blame for the fact that it now has its back to the wall. “This is a problem for the Home Office, for which they are solely responsible. They are working to get around it.”
Application of snooping law is itself secret
The controversial snooping law is called the UK Investigatory Powers Act. It can only be understood by experts, and its application itself is supposed to be completely secret. Apple was therefore unable to say publicly that the British government wanted an iCloud backdoor. The iPhone manufacturer was only able to defend itself in advance. To be forced to break the secure encryption, a (likewise secret) “technical capability notice” to a company is sufficient. This company must then implement what the British Home Office demands.
Meanwhile, Apple had considered leaving the UK altogether so as not to jeopardize its user data in other countries. In April, the company at least succeeded in having the secrecy of the process stopped by the courts. In February, Apple had already withdrawn its best iCloud protection, known as Advanced Data Protection (ADP), from the UK. The British Home Office has now summoned Apple to its tribunal to force the company to install the desired backdoor. In addition to Vance, US President Trump himself and his security advisor Tulsi Gabbard have also been highly critical of the British demands. “That's not possible,” said Trump. “That's something you only hear from China.”
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