MARCH 13, 2025 | Today a bipartisan group of US lawmakers signed onto a joint letter calling on the UK’s government to immediately bring transparency to their upcoming hearing for Apple on March 14th. The American technology company has found themselves in a standoff with the UK’s Home Office, which demanded backdoor access to encrypted Apple iCloud data under the Investigatory Powers Act. 

Stephen Kent  of the Consumer Choice Center, an international consumer advocacy group based in Washington, D.C., London and Ottawa reacted to the letter from Congress:

“British authorities are actively harming their own people’s privacy and data security by pursuing backdoor access to Apple’s consumer encryption. The United States correctly sees this as a domestic threat, because a backdoor in the UK means a backdoor for access to Apple users’ cloud data everywhere.”

The demand by US Senators Ron Wyden and Alex Padilla, as well as Congressmen Andy Biggs, Warren Davidson and Zoe Lofgren, is that the UK make their March 14th hearing public so that its proceedings can be analyzed by cybersecurity experts and the US Congress. 

“The US government has changed its tune in recent years on the issue of encryption. They went from being outright hostile to encryption like the kind Apple provides, over concerns about countering terrorism, to then realizing it was the only thing keeping consumers safe whatsoever from massive foreign hacks,” Kent continued. 

Mike Salem of the Consumer Choice Center’s UK office told media in February about the clash between British authorities and Apple, saying “This marks a very sad day for the basic principle of consumer privacy in the 21st century, depriving users of the tools that leave UK citizens exposed to governments, criminals and malicious hackers. The fact this has been done without debate, oversight or advance warning to UK Apple users is extremely concerning.”

The Consumer Choice Center applauds Republicans and Democrats of the US Congress, as well as the Trump Administration, in their vocal defense of consumer privacy in the case of Apple vs the UK’s Home Office. We hope the Investigatory Powers Tribunal yields to the request of the US Congress and makes their hearing public, before taking steps to walk back this disastrous attack on encryption which has left UK consumers without the protection of Apple’s Advanced Data Protection tool. 

###

FOR UK or US MEDIA QUERIES and INTERVIEWS PLEASE CONTACT:

Stephen Kent

Consumer Choice Center

stephen@consumerchoicecenter.org

The Consumer Choice Center is an independent, nonpartisan consumer advocacy group championing the benefits of freedom of choice, innovation, and abundance in everyday life for consumers in over 100 countries. We closely monitor regulatory trends in Washington, Brussels, Ottawa, Brasilia, London, and Geneva. Find out more at www.consumerchoicecenter.org.

FEB 27, 2025 | Tulsi Gabbard, now U.S. Director of National Intelligence, has confirmed that U.S. officials and DNI lawyers are now reviewing whether the United Kingdom breached a bilateral treaty known as the CLOUD Act. Under the agreement, the UK is prohibited from demanding access to the data of U.S. citizens or individuals within U.S. borders. 

Stephen Kent, Media Director for the Consumer Choice Center, an international consumer advocacy group based in Washington, D.C., reacted to news of Gabbard’s invoking the CLOUD Act:

“Gabbard is spot on in her defense of American consumers at home and abroad being threatened by the UK’s effort to break Apple’s encryption for users. The nature of consumer encryption tech is that if it’s broken anywhere, it’s broken everywhere. The UK is acting more like China and less like a democratic ally of the US.”

The UK’s Home Office demanded access to encrypted Apple iCloud data under the Investigatory Powers Act (IPA, which would create a “backdoor” for the UK to Apple’s encryption for all its consumers worldwide. As a result, Apple has opted to suspend its Advanced Data Protection encryption feature for UK users. 

“This mode of thinking is why Europe was taken off guard last week by Vice President JD Vance’s speech at the Munich Security Conference. What Gabbard is pointing out in her defense of encryption is that an ally of the United States is trying to violate their citizens’ privacy in a way that compromises consumers in the United States,” Kent continued. 

“The FBI under former Director Christopher Wray used to advocate for the same ‘backdoor’ access to encryption, but they’ve since changed their tune about encryption because of the rising threat of foreign data hacks, which pose huge risks to American consumers and companies.”

Cybersecurity analysts have long warned that any backdoor created for a government could eventually be discovered and misused by cybercriminals and hostile foreign actors. The UK’s push to weaken encryption disregards these risks, potentially exposing sensitive data to hackers and bad actors worldwide.

Kent concluded, “There are few consumer privacy issues as important in the world today as maintaining the integrity of encryption technology and services. The Trump Administration should pull no punches in letting Keir Starmer’s government know that this kind of ‘big brother’ behavior won’t be tolerated and makes our people worse off.” 

FOR MEDIA QUERIES OR INTERVIEWS PLEASE CONTACT:

Stephen Kent

Consumer Choice Center

stephen@consumerchoicecenter.org

###

The Consumer Choice Center is an independent, nonpartisan consumer advocacy group championing the benefits of freedom of choice, innovation, and abundance in everyday life for consumers in over 100 countries. We closely monitor regulatory trends in Washington, Brussels, Ottawa, Brasilia, London, and Geneva. Find out more at www.consumerchoicecenter.org.