U.S. Representative Andy Biggs (R-AZ-05), who is currently seeking signatures for a possible bid to become Arizona’s next governor, last week urged Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard to reconsider the intelligence sharing agreements between the United States and the United Kingdom after a British court ordered Apple to provide backdoor access to encrypted information.
Biggs authored the bipartisan letter last Thursday with Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) after the UK Home Office cited the country’s Investigatory Powers Act to demand access to encrypted data stored digitally by Apple users, with the federal lawmakers urging Gabbard to introduce “serious consequences” to the British government, as the demand could allow foreign intelligence agencies to spy on American citizens.
“Apple does not make different versions of its encryption software for each market; Apple customers in the U.K. use the same software as Americans,” wrote Biggs and Wyden in their letter. “If Apple is forced to build a backdoor in its products, that backdoor will end up in Americans’ phones, tablets, and computers, undermining the security of Americans’ data, as well as of the countless federal, state and local government agencies that entrust sensitive data to Apple products.”
Biggs and Wyden then urged Gabbard to reconsider the nation’s security arrangements with the UK and to impose consequences for its demand for backdoor access to Apple products.
“While the U.K has been a trusted ally, the U.S. government must not permit what is effectively a foreign cyberattack waged through political means. If the U.K. does not immediately reverse this dangerous effort, we urge you to reevaluate U.S.-U.K. cybersecurity arrangements and programs as well as U.S. intelligence sharing with the U.K.,” wrote the lawmakers.
They urged Gabbard to deliver “an ultimatum” to her foreign counterparts, specifically demanding, “back down from this dangerous attack on U.S. cybersecurity, or face serious consequences.”
Biggs and Wyden additionally asked Gabbard to inform Congress whether President Donald Trump was informed of the order from the British government.
The letter came the same month Biggs officially confirmed he would seek the Republican nomination to challenge Governor Katie Hobbs next year, having previously stated, “I have a firm understanding of what the state needs to thrive.”
After being nominated by Trump to lead the country’s intelligence community last year, the U.S. Senate confirmed Gabbard last week.
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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Pennsylvania Daily Star and The Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
There also needs to be a reckoning for “the five eyes” that took orders from Obama to spy on Trump and his people in 2016.
They interfered in our elections and broke the Western world order that kept Europe safe since WW2.
They pooped the peace bed and now they’re butthurt about Trump telling them to lie in the mess they made.