Sir Keir Starmer’s government is seeking a way out of a clash with the Trump administration over the UK’s demand that Apple provide it with access to secure customer data, two senior British officials have told the Financial Times.
The officials both said the Home Office, which ordered the tech giant in January to grant access to its most secure cloud storage system, would probably have to retreat in the face of pressure from senior leaders in Washington, including Vice President JD Vance.
“This is something that the vice president is very annoyed about and which needs to be resolved,” said an official in the UK’s technology department. “The Home Office is basically going to have to back down.”
Both officials said the UK decision to force Apple to break its end-to-end encryption—which has been raised multiple times by top officials in Donald Trump’s administration—could impede technology agreements with the US.
“One of the challenges for the tech partnerships we’re working on is the encryption issue,” the first official said. “It’s a big red line in the US—they don’t want us messing with their tech companies.”
Starmer’s government has set out a trade strategy that focuses on digital goals such as AI and data partnerships.
The other senior government official added that the Home Office had handled the issue of Apple encryption very badly and now had “its back against the wall,” adding: “It’s a problem of the Home Office’s own making, and they’re working on a way around it now.”
In its order in January, the Home Office told Apple to build in a “back door” to allow law enforcement or security services to tap into the cloud storage system that stores user data that even the iPhone maker itself is currently unable to access.
It did so by issuing a “technical capability notice” under the UK Investigatory Powers Act, legislation that critics dub a “snooper’s charter” but that the government maintains is needed by law enforcement to investigate terrorism and child sexual abuse.