According to the US director of national intelligence, the UK has retracted its contentious request to obtain the data of all Apple users worldwide if necessary.
Tulsi Gabbard claimed in a post on X that the UK had decided to revoke its directive for the internet giant to offer a "back door" that would have "encroached on our civil liberties and enabled access to the protected encrypted data of American citizens."
As far as the BBC is aware, neither the US nor the UK governments have formally contacted Apple as of yet.
A request for comment has been made to the Home Office.
Apple received a formal notification from the UK in December requesting access to encrypted data from its users throughout the globe.
However, Apple itself is unable to access the data of users who have enabled Advanced Data Protection (ADP), the company's most robust security feature that restricts access to users' files.
It would have needed to crack its own encryption techniques to accomplish this.
"We have never built a backdoor or master key to any of our products or services, and we never will," it continued.
In response, Apple removed ADP from the UK market and initiated legal action to contest the ruling. A tribunal was scheduled to hear this case in early 2026.
Whether that will continue is still up in the air.
It is unknown if other tech companies have also received a demand because of the government order's secrecy, which was issued under the Investigatory Powers Act.
According to the messaging app WhatsApp, which is used by millions of British people, it hasn't yet.
The message infuriated privacy activists, who are now cautiously optimistic about the news, given neither Apple nor the Home Office have ever confirmed it.
"If true, this decision is hugely welcome," said Sam Grant of the civil rights organization Liberty, which had earlier filed a separate lawsuit against the UK government alongside Privacy International.
He told the BBC that it would be a "reckless and potentially unlawful move from the government" to create a back door to citizens' private information.
"This would present a huge threat to our personal and national security, especially as we know it'd leave politicians, campaigners and minority groups especially at risk of being targeted," he stated.
"As long as this power exists within the Investigatory Powers Act, it remains a risk that any future government might also try to use it to create a back door into other end-to-end encrypted services we all use."
The US and UK governments already have a formal agreement called the Data Access Agreement that permits them to exchange data for law enforcement.
