WASHINGTON, Aug 18 (Reuters) - U.S. Director of National

Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said on Monday the UK had agreed to

drop its mandate for iPhone maker Apple ( AAPL ) to provide a

"back door" that would have enabled access to the protected

encrypted data of American citizens.

Gabbard issued the statement on X, saying she had worked for

months with Britain, along with President Donald Trump and Vice

President JD Vance to arrive at a deal.

U.S. lawmakers said in May that the UK's order to Apple ( AAPL ) to

create a backdoor to its encrypted user data could be exploited

by cybercriminals and authoritarian governments.

Apple ( AAPL ), which has said it would never build a so-called back

door into its encrypted services or devices, had challenged the

order at the UK's Investigatory Powers Tribunal (IPT).

The iPhone maker withdrew its Advanced Data Protection

feature for UK users in February following the UK order. Users

of Apple's ( AAPL ) iPhones, Macs and other devices can enable the

feature to ensure that only they - and not even Apple ( AAPL ) - can

unlock data stored on its cloud.