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Tulsi Gabbard has reached the UK’s request for Apple to build a “back door” on its iCloud security system, saying that such action would be a “savage violation” of the intimacy of Americans risking to violate both countries’ data agreement.
Responding to a letter from Democratic Senator Ron Wyden and Republican Congressman Andy Biggs, the US director of national intelligence said she shared their “serious concern” that it could allow British authorities to enter the personal data of Americans. Gabbard said she had instructed lawyers and intelligence officials to investigate the case.
“I share your serious concern about the serious implications of the UK, or any foreign country, demanding that Apple or any company create a” back door “that would allow access to the coded data of Americans,” Gabbard wrote to US lawmakers.
“It would be a clear and savage violation of American intimacy and civil freedoms and would open up a serious weakness for internet exploitation by opposing actors.”
Apple last week withdrew its safest service to maintain Cloud from the UK, saying that “can no longer provide” advanced data protection (ADP) for iCloud in the country.
The measure came after it turned out that Apple had received a “secret technical notification” notification last month under the Law on Investigation Powers in the UK, demanding that it allow the implementation of the law to access coded data stored in the Cloud.
According to IPA, which was updated last year in the last weeks of the previous conservative government, recipients of a technical skill notice are not allowed to discuss it. Gabbard said she had not become aware of the order before she was reported in the press this month.
Law enforcement officials have clashed with technology companies for more than a decade on the use of encryption, which investigators say shield criminals and impedes investigations into terrorists and children’s abusers.
Technology companies, including Meta Meta of Apple and WhatsApp, have argued that encryption provides life protection for consumers as they increasingly trust their personal information about smartphones, messaging applications and online storage services.
The United Kingdom and the US reached a bilateral data entry agreement in 2019, allowing countries to share evidence regarding terrorism and other serious crimes after approval by a judge or other independent authority.
Gabbard said her legal team was considering implications of the UK’s request for that agreement, known as the Cloud Act, adding that an “initial summary” suggested that the United Kingdom “may not issue requests for the data of US citizens, citizens or permanent residents”.
“I look forward to ensuring that the United Kingdom Government has taken the necessary actions to protect the privacy of US citizens, in accordance with the Act of Cloud and other applicable laws,” she said.
Earlier this month, Wyden and Biggs called on US President Donald Trump and Apple to “tell the United Kingdom they can go directly to hell at its secret request”, saying: “The US government should not allow what is effectively a foreign internet attack developed through political means.”
Apple itself cannot access the stored data using the “bottom to bottom” encryption system of ADP. In accordance with the UK order would require Apple in force to violate its own security without the knowledge of its users.
Unlike its standard iCloud storage system, which Apple is able to decipher after receiving a legal order, activation of ADP requires users to keep the only key capable of unlocking their data.
“We are heavily disappointed that the protections given by ADP will not be available to our UK customers given the ongoing increase in data violations and other client intimacy,” Apple said last week.
“As we said many times before, we have never built a rear door or master key for any of our products or services and we will never do it.”
