US chides UK for seeking encryption backdoor

A senior US official chided the UK government on Tuesday for pressuring Apple to create a backdoor in its encryption — although the US law enforcers would like a backdoor of their own.

US national intelligence director Tulsi Gabbard responded to an inquiry from two members of Congress, writing that she is concerned about the UK’s request.

“I share your grave concern about the serious implications of the United Kingdom, or any foreign country, requiring Apple or any company to create a backdoor that would allow access to Americans personal encrypted data,” Gabbard wrote in a letter, a copy of which was published by US Senator Ron Wyden. “This would be a clear and egregious violation of Americans’ privacy and civil liberties and open up a serious vulnerability for cyber exploitation by adversarial actors.”