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Faced with US pressure, the UK is reportedly looking for a way out of its own demands for an iOS backdoor, without also limiting its future ambitions.
In 2024, the UK changed its own laws so that it could demand Apple give it complete access to all iPhone user data worldwide. It also invoked what’s known as the Snoopers’ Charter, which meant it was legally able to prevent Apple from even revealing the request.
Apple did, though, cause the issue to be revealed by switching off its Advanced Data Protection for UK users, and also lobbying the US government.
Now according to the UK’s Financial Times, officials within the local government say the country is likely to withdraw its order. Alongside other senior US leaders including Trump, the sources say that the climb down is because of pressure from JD Vance.
“This is something that the vice-president is very annoyed about and which needs to be resolved,” said one source, reported to be an official in the UK’s technology department. “The Home Office is basically going to have to back down.”
Another said that “it’s a problem of the Home Office’s own making, and they’re working on a way around it now.”
However, a further source said that “at this point, the government has not backed down.”
What the UK wanted
Ostensibly, the UK wanted Apple to create a backdoor into its encryption so that government officials could read any data they deemed necessary in criminal investigations. What the UK asked for was worldwide access, which is part of what has enraged the US.
Arguably what the UK really wanted was for Apple to do what it did and remove certain protections from the UK. If so, it got what it wanted, but there are ramifications.
With UK data such as messaging less protected than anywhere else in the world, it’s harder for anywhere else in the world to deal with the UK. In February 2025, it was reported that US Intelligence Services could reduce or stop sharing data with the UK.
What happens next
By looking for a way to back out of the demand, the unnamed British officials do not only mean that the UK wants to save face. Reportedly, there is concern that any climbdown will have some unspecified impact on the UK’s plans regarding AI.
This is another area of controversy for the UK, whose government wants to give US companies free access to copyright material for AI training. The idea is that this will somehow grow the AI industry in the UK, when in practice it will just aid existing US firms and irrevocably damage the country’s hugely successful arts industries.
At present, the UK is officially considering the responses received to its open consultation process. AI laws are nonetheless expected to come into practice in 2026.
In the shorter term, Trump is expected to visit the UK before the end of July 2025. That is also when another unpopular UK law is due to come into effect, one that would attempt to add further regulations and potential fines on Apple and Google.
