2025-08-19T17:15:36Z
The US backed Apple against a UK order to allow the government access to encrypted user data.
The US government said Monday that the UK agreed to drop its demand.
The win added to Apple’s August hot streak that includes positive talks with Trump and strong iPhone sales.
Apple CEO Tim Cook notched another big win.
The US backed the iPhone maker in its fight against a UK order that would make encrypted user data accessible to the British government.
The US government said Monday that the UK agreed to drop the order after talks between the two countries. A UK government spokesperson declined to confirm the existence of the Apple order in a statement to Business Insider.
The dispute began earlier this year when the UK issued the order, which was first reported by the Washington Post. In mid-February, two US congressmen urged Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard in a letter to challenge the “secret order” for Apple to create a back door to its users’ data worldwide.
Later that month, Apple disabled Advanced Data Protection, a privacy-enhancing feature, on iPhones in the UK. This was a rare move for Apple, a company known for making users’ privacy a top priority.
Gabbard said in her announcement on Monday that the order would have “encroached” on Americans’ civil liberties.
Over the past few months, I’ve been working closely with our partners in the UK, alongside @POTUS and @VP, to ensure Americans’ private data remains private and our Constitutional rights and civil liberties are protected.
As a result, the UK has agreed to drop its mandate for…
— DNI Tulsi Gabbard (@DNIGabbard) August 19, 2025
August is going well for Apple so far. The tech giant started the month coming off stronger-than-expected iPhone sales that it reported in late July.
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It kept the good vibes going with a visit to the White House on August 6. Though Cook gifted Trump an inscribed American-made piece of glass to commemorate its US manufacturing efforts, Apple walked away the true winner.
Trump said companies that “are building in the United States,” like Apple, won’t be subject to a forthcoming 100% tariff on imports of semiconductors and chips. That put concerns about higher potential costs from those tariffs in Apple’s rearview.
Last week, Apple scored another win when a US Customs ruling allowed the company to bring a blood-oxygen monitoring feature back to some Apple Watches. The company previously removed the feature from some models to circumvent an import ban related to a patent dispute.
Apple hasn’t had an easy 2025. The threat of tariffs and delays in key Apple Intelligence features presented challenges, but the tech giant is marking small victories where they count.
