Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to ensure the protection of personal data in the context of Apple’s withdrawal of Advanced Data Protection.

The UK has a strong track record of protecting people’s privacy whilst also ensuring action can be taken against child sexual abusers and terrorists.

The Investigatory Powers Act contains robust safeguards and independent oversight to protect privacy and ensure that data is only obtained on an exceptional basis and only when it is necessary and proportionate to do so.

The Home Office does not comment on operational matters. This has been the longstanding position of successive UK Governments for reasons of national security.