Pressure from American Vice President J.D. Vance has prevented British government agencies from overriding the privacy settings in Apple devices, it was revealed on Wednesday, August 20.
Apple offers end-to-end encryption for its messaging and other content services, but Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has asked the company to grant access to iPhones, iPads, and other devices, ostensibly to fight child sexual abuse and terrorism.
A U.S. official told the Telegraph
The VP negotiated a mutually beneficial understanding that the UK Government will withdraw the current back door order to Apple.
By Monday, August 18, national intelligence director Tulsi Gabbard announced that the UK Government had dropped its proposals.
Vance raised the issue with senior British officials, resulting in them dropping the proposals. The VP’s initiative follows his widely publicised concerns over the state of free speech in Europe. For now, at least, Britain’s security services will not have secret online access to the iPhone pictures and messages of someone suspected of a crime.
