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Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard has launched a legal review into the U.K. government’s covert attempt to force Apple into providing a backdoor to its encryption—an alarming move that could compromise the data security of American citizens.
In a letter sent to Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ) on Tuesday, Gabbard confirmed that she had no prior knowledge of Britain’s directive until it was exposed in a Washington Post report earlier this month. She noted that the U.K. had failed to brief her on the matter, a move that immediately raised concerns about international overreach and intelligence transparency.
The revelation ignited swift backlash. On February 21, Apple responded by pulling its top-tier encryption tools from the British market rather than capitulate to the U.K. government’s order.
“I share your grave concern about the serious implications of the United Kingdom, or any foreign country, requiring Apple or any company to create a ‘backdoor’ that would allow access to Americans’ personal encrypted data,” Gabbard wrote in response to a February 13 request from Wyden and Biggs.
The lawmakers had urged Gabbard to reconsider the extent of intelligence-sharing agreements with Britain should the nation refuse to retract its demand. They argued that Britain’s move directly contradicts privacy protections that are foundational to U.S. cybersecurity policies.
Gabbard reinforced their stance, emphasizing that compliance with such a directive would not only violate Americans’ rights but also introduce critical vulnerabilities that could be exploited by adversaries.
“Complying with Britain’s demands would be a clear and egregious violation of Americans’ privacy and civil liberties, and open up a serious vulnerability for cyber exploitation by adversarial actors,” she wrote.
Gabbard has now instructed U.S. intelligence and law enforcement agencies to assess the ramifications of the U.K.’s move and intends to engage with British officials once she gathers their insights.
A preliminary review suggests that the U.K.’s directive may be in direct conflict with the bilateral Cloud Act Agreement, which explicitly prohibits Britain from demanding access to data belonging to U.S. citizens.
“Any information sharing between a government—any government—and private companies must be done in a manner that respects and protects U.S. law and the Constitutional rights of U.S. citizens,” Gabbard concluded.
With privacy rights, national security, and international relations now intertwined in this developing controversy, all eyes are on the next moves from both Washington and London.
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