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US Lawmarker calls on the US to publish a risk assessment of US surveillance laws for US citizens following disclosures that the UK ordered Apple to implement ‘backdoors’ in Apple encryption.
Senator Ron Wyden wrote to Tulsi Gabriel, the US Director of National Intelligence to urge her to give Congress and the American people a “frank evaluation” of the security threats posed by UK spying on the US.
This letter, which comes after disclosures that the Home Office issued a secret notification to Apple in order to gain access its users’ encrypted information, raises new fears that the UK’s Investigatory Powers Act could allow the UK to access data on US citizens much more widely than previously reported.
Android may have “backdoors”.
In an open letter to Gabbard, Wyden claimed that the Home Office could have issued a secret directive to Google to introduce a “backdoor” to the encrypted backup service used by millions of Android users worldwide. After publication of Google responded to Wyden’s letter (19459063) by saying that it had not received any such orders from the UK.
This letter raises questions regarding the powers of the Home Office under the Investigatory Powers (IPA) 2016, which allows them to issue orders secretly to force US companies into storing data belonging to US residents in the UK, “where it can then be seized by the US Government.”
Wyden intervenes as President Trump, who has criticised Home Office’s Order against Apple, as something China should be expected to do met with Prime Minister Keir Starmer at Trump’s Turnberry Wyden and Republican congressman Andy Biggs wrote to Gabbard first in February 2025 after a leaked report in The Washington Post ( revealed the Home Secretary Yvette cooper had issued an order, known as a “Technical Capability Notice” (TCN), against Apple requiring it introduce a “backdoor” access to users’ data stored on its advanced encryption storage service.
Gabbard said that she shared the lawmakers’ “grave concerns” about the UK ordering US firms to create ‘backdoors,’ which would allow access encrypted data of US citizen. She said that such a move would be “a clear and egregious breach of American citizens’ privacy and civil rights” and create cyber vulnerabilities which could be exploited hostile actors.
Wyden states that companies receiving orders under the UK’s Investigatory powers Act (IPA 2016) are legally prohibited from disclosing the existence of the orders. This makes it impossible to confirm the US technology companies that have received orders from the UK “much less to what extent they may be complying”. Apple’s Advance Data Protection is disabled by default. This means that only a very small proportion of Apple customers who “benefit from this important cyber-security defence” will be affected by a Home Office Order.
Wyden, however, raised the possibility – denied by Google since – that the Home Office had also issued an order to Google, requiring it to provide ‘backdoor access’ to encrypted backups made by millions of Android smart phone owners who are protected by end to end encryption by default. Wyden wrote that when his office asked Google if the UK had made any demands for backdoor access, the company refused to answer the question. Instead, they said that if the company had received a technical capability notice, it was prohibited from disclosing this information.
This contrasts with Meta, who offered Wyden a “clear denial” by stating that they “have not received an order from the UK to backdoor our encrypted service, as reported about Apple”when asked the same questions on 17 March 2025.
Home Office Hacking Powers could Impact US
Wyden raised further concerns about the threat that UK surveillance laws pose to US data. Wyden has not only raised concerns about the UK’s demand that US companies weaken encryption by adding back doors.
According to the British Embassy in Washington, the UK could force US companies to store newly generated US customer data within the UK by using the IPA. “UK-located data can then be seized” by the UK government, he said.
The British Embassy in Washington, however, has not denied this capability. He has also raised concern that UK could use the Equipment Interference provisions (hacking) in the IPA in order to demand that companies infect their customers with spy software to hack Americans.
Wyden told Gabbard that “the cyber security of American communications and digital lives should be protected against foreign threats.” “The implications for national security are grave, not least as the communications of US officials could be subjected to both weakened cryptography and storage in the UK,” said he.
In response to Wyden’s letter Jim Killock, Executive director of Open Rights Group who is campaigning against Home Office’s move against encryption, said the Home Office orders impact people’s security worldwide
He added that “Google’s refusal to answer Senator Wyden” is extremely concerning for Android users, who rely on encryption as a means of privacy and security. Update 21:00
After publication of this article, Google informedWashington Post the British government had never asked for special access to its users’ private messages or data.
According to a spokesperson who spoke with the Washington Post, Google has never built a mechanism or “backdoor” that would circumvent end-to end encryption.
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