The CIA, NSA and multiple other US intelligence agencies have been asked to examine a reported request from the UK government for Apple to implement a backdoor in their encryption.
Tulsi Gabbard, the US director of national intelligence (DNI), announced the measures in a letter to two US politicians who had raised concerns about the move.
Apple last week withdrew some of its secure storage features from the UK. It was reported previously that the UK government had asked the US tech giant to give it access to users’ protected data worldwide.
Both the current Labour government, the previous Tory administrations and campaigners say they want less rigorous encryption to protect children and prevent crime.
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The latest step in the row comes as Sir Keir Starmer heads to Washington DC to meet with President Donald Trump.
Sir Keir has made technological development – especially AI – central to his plans to grow the UK economy and will be hoping to build ties with Silicon Valley leaders among others.
It is not clear if the reported attempts to impose UK law on a US-based company will impact any talks with the president.
The UK government is said to have made the demand to Apple under the Investigatory Powers Act 2016, which is also known as the “Snooper’s Charter”.
The government does not disclose whether it has made orders under the act, and has not commented on the specifics with Apple.
Apple is also prevented from commenting on whether an order was made.
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Public outcry over apple security
In her letter, Ms Gabbard said she had “grave concern” about the UK or any other country “requiring Apple or any company to create a ‘backdoor’ that would allow access to Americans’ personal encrypted data”.
She added: “This 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.”
Ms Gabbard – who is close to Mr Trump – said she was not made aware of the order by the UK.
She said she has requested the CIA (Central Intelligence Agency), DIA (Defense Intelligence Agency), DHS (Department of Homeland Security), FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation) and NSA (National Security Agency) all to provide her with “insights” about what is in the public domain.
DNI Tulsi Gabbard has criticised the reported UK actions. Pic: AP
US government lawyers have also been asked to give a legal opinion on the implications of the reported order on the bilateral Cloud Act agreement.
The DNI highlighted that the agreement prevents either state from issuing demands for the data of citizens or nationals of the other.
Ms Gabbard’s letter was in response to a letter from Democrat senator Ron Wyden and Republican representative Andy Biggs, sent almost two weeks ago.
This is before Apple pulled its Advanced Data Protection from the UK, but after reports of the request to the iPhone and Mac makers.
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The two politicians said: “These reported actions seriously threaten the privacy and security of both the American people and the US government.”
They urged Ms Gabbard to “reevaluate US-UK cybersecurity arrangements and programmes as well as US intelligence sharing with the UK” if the UK did not change tack.
The Home Office has been approached for comment.
