The National Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard says that the change maintains the privacy of American users.
Apple will no longer be forced to provide the United Kingdom government access to encrypted data from US citizens, said Washington's Chief, indicating the end of a transatlantic privacy row for months.
Tulsi Gabbard, director of National Intelligence of the United States, said London agreed to launch his requirement for Apple to provide a “back door” that would have allowed access to protected data of US users and “invaded our civil freedoms.”
Gabbard said that reversal was the result of months of commitment to the United Kingdom to “ensure that the private data of Americans remain private and that our constitutional rights and civil liberties are protected.”
The United Kingdom government said it does not comment on operational matters, but that London and Washington have joint security and intelligence agreements that include safeguards to protect privacy.
“We will continue to build on those arrangements, and we will also continue to maintain a strong security framework to ensure that we can continue pursuing terrorists and serious criminals that operate in the United Kingdom,” said a government spokesman.
“We will always take all the necessary actions at domestic level to keep the citizens of the United Kingdom safe.”
Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comments.
The United Kingdom encryption escalation occurs after Apple in February announced that it could no longer offer advanced data protection, its highest level of security, in the country.
Although Apple did not provide a reason for the change at that time, the announcement occurred after the Washington Post reported that the United Kingdom security officials secretly ordered the technological giant based in California to provide general access to the cloud data that belong to users around the world.
According to the United Kingdom's research powers, authorities can force companies to eliminate encryption under what is known as a “technical capacity notice.”
Companies that receive a notice are legally obliged to the secret about the order unless the Government grants permit otherwise.
Like other technological giants, Apple has commercialized its end -to -end encryption as proof of its firm commitment to the privacy of its users.
End -to -end encryption stir the data so that they cannot be read by third parties, including companies to apply law and technology.
Governments around the world have made numerous attempts to undermine or avoid encryption, arguing that it protects the criminals from scrutiny.
Privacy experts and defenders of civil liberties have condemned efforts to weaken technology, arguing that they treat innocent people as possible criminals and put at risk the privacy and safety of all users.
