The U.K. government is reportedly backing down from its earlier demand that Apple build a secret backdoor allowing authorities access to customer data worldwide, following strong criticism from the U.S. government. However, one U.S. senator is now questioning whether other tech giants, such as Google, have also received similar secret backdoor demands from the U.K. government. Google has so far refused to provide any clarification on the matter.
Earlier this year, reports revealed that the U.K. Home Office sought a secret court order from the country’s surveillance court, demanding that Apple grant U.K. authorities access to end-to-end encrypted cloud data stored by any customer globally, including iPhone and iPad backups. Apple’s encryption ensures that only customers, not the company itself, can access their data stored on its servers.
Under U.K. law, tech companies subject to secret surveillance court orders, like Apple, are legally prohibited from disclosing details of such orders—or even their existence—despite the information leaking publicly earlier this year. Critics have condemned the secret order as draconian, warning that it could have severe global implications for user privacy. Apple has since challenged the legality of the order in court.
In a recent letter to top U.S. intelligence official Tulsi Gabbard, Senator Ron Wyden, a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, noted that while tech companies cannot confirm whether they have received a U.K. order, at least one major firm has stated it has not. Meta, which uses end-to-end encryption for WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger, informed Wyden’s office in March that it has not received any order to weaken its encrypted services, unlike the reported case with Apple.
Google, however, has declined to confirm or deny whether it has received a similar order from the U.K. government regarding encrypted data, such as Android backups. According to Wyden, Google only stated that if it had received such a notice, it would be legally barred from disclosing it. A Google spokesperson emphasized that the company has never built any backdoor to bypass end-to-end encryption in its products but refused to comment on whether it has ever received a U.K. government order.
Wyden’s letter, which was first reported by The Washington Post, urges Gabbard to publicly assess the national security risks posed by the U.K.’s surveillance laws and its alleged secret demands on U.S. companies.