Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard has announced that American Apple users will now enjoy more data privacy after she struck a new deal overseas.
Citizens in the U.K. have been concerned for months ever since their government demanded the ability to tap into their bank records as well as their personal photos and messages through their iPhones, according to the Telegraph.
In February, an order from the U.K.’s home secretary, the equivalent of Homeland Security, required Apple to remove its “advanced data protection” and “end-to-end encryption” for users in their country, causing Director Gabbard to step in and protect user privacy.
‘The UK and the EU have gotten in the habit of bullying American companies when they don’t have a leg to stand on.’
After months of reported pressure from President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance, and Gabbard, the U.K. and Home Secretary Yvette Cooper have decided to drop the demand for the “back door” into the Apple phones, protecting not only American citizens, but those in the U.K. as well.
“Over the past few months, I’ve been working closely with our partners in the UK, alongside [Trump] and [Vance], to ensure Americans’ private data remains private and our Constitutional rights and civil liberties are protected,” Gabbard announced on X.
She continued, “As a result, the UK has agreed to drop its mandate for Apple to provide a ‘back door’ that would have enabled access to the protected encrypted data of American citizens and encroached on our civil liberties.”
A U.K. government spokesman told the Telegraph that the agreement with the United States includes “critical safeguards to prevent the U.K. and U.S. from targeting the data of each other’s citizens.”
The long-standing joint security initiative between the two nations will continue to build, the spokesperson added, noting that the U.K. will continue to “pursue terrorists and serious criminals operating” in its countries.
The government official did note that the U.K. countries plan to “take all actions necessary” at the domestic level in order to “keep U.K. citizens safe.”
There is still another fish to fry, according to tech writer Josh Centers, who says the European Union needs a stern warning from U.S. tech companies to fall in line.
“I’m glad the federal government is finally fighting for the rights of American tech companies and their users abroad,” Centers told Blaze News. “The U.K. and the EU have gotten in the habit of bullying American companies when they don’t have a leg to stand on.”
Because of this, Centers added, American corporations should be willing to take things a step further.
“If the EU doesn’t also follow suit, the American tech industry should boycott the entire continent,” Centers said.
From the U.K. side, this is a small but important victory, according to Lewis Brackpool, director of investigations at Restore Britain.
“Privacy and free speech are inseparable,” Brackpool told Blaze News. Considering what little free speech citizens in the U.K. have currently, Brackpool said it was important to take strides forward.
“When the state can read everything you say, your right to freedom of expression is put in the grave before it even begins,” he said.
Citing George Orwell’s “1984,” Brackpool noted that the character Winston cowers in the corner when facing his greatest fear, a symbol of the government’s complete destruction of his integrity. “Now it seems the British state caving to Donald Trump’s demands has pushed them into a corner.”
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