Overview

• Wyden’s July 28 letter to Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard calls for a frank assessment of national security and privacy risks from UK encryption backdoor demands under the Investigatory Powers Act.
• The intervention spotlights concerns that after a covert Technical Capability Notice forced a backdoor in Apple’s encrypted storage, the Home Office may have issued a similar order to Google affecting billions of Android users.
• Google first declined to confirm any notice but later told TechCrunch that it has not received a technical capabilities notice from UK authorities.
• Wyden warns that companies served with TCNs are legally barred from disclosing their existence and that IPA powers could compel US firms to store American user data in the UK for potential seizure.
• Privacy advocates caution that any enforced backdoors or spyware requirements could weaken global encryption standards and expose sensitive communications to hostile actors.