Apple’s commitment to end-to-end encryption is so strong that it withdrew a key privacy feature from the UK market rather than be forced to compromise it globally. The company also faced pressure on this front from the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA). In a surprising twist, the White House came out in support of strong encryption, and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is now urging Apple and other tech giants to stand firm on the issue … The US’s changing narrative on strong encryption I describe the most recent events as surprising as you may recall that Apple was previously involved in a long-running battle with the FBI over compromising the security of iPhones. Indeed, less than a year ago Trump came out in strong opposition to Apple, stating that the FBI must be allowed to force Apple to unlock access to the iPhones of suspects. This echoed earlier comments he made back in 2020. The FBI said in 2019 that end-to-end encryption (E2EE) “infects” law enforcement. Fast forward to this year, and suddenly the US government is opposed to iCloud backdoors. Trump even threatened to cancel a US-UK trade deal unless Britain backed down – which it recently did. FTC now backs Apple In addition to its battles in the UK, Apple was also facing pressure over strong encryption in the EU. The DSA requires tech giants to take steps to prevent the storage and transmission of child sexual abuse materials (CSAM), and some interpretations of this suggest that this would require backdoors into E2EE. Wired reports that the US Antitrust Authority has asked Apple and others how they plan to address “incorrect international regulatory requirements” imposed by the DSA – specifically those which would require compromising E2EE. The FTC has now written to those same companies asking for assurances that they will not comply. The letter’s subject: the European Digital Services Act cannot be applied if it jeopardizes freedom of expression and, above all, the safety of US citizens. It says US tech giants who compromise E2EE may break US law on deceptive practices. Companies that promise that their service is secure or encrypted, but fail to use end-to-end encryption where appropriate, may deceive consumers who reasonably expect this level of privacy. FTC chairman Andrew Ferguson said he wouldn’t hesitate to enforce the law. 9to5Mac’s Take This is, frankly, hilarious. The US has gone from threatening Apple if it didn’t compromise strong encryption to now threatening it if it does – with Trump endorsing each of the conflicting stances. Comical or not, the whole situation is good news for privacy, as it would now make it extremely embarrassing for the current administration, at least, to make a second U-turn and pose a threat to strong encryption. Highlighted accessories