Apple will no longer be forced to provide the United Kingdom’s government with access to American citizens’ encrypted data, Washington’s spy chief has said, signalling the end of a months-long transatlantic privacy row.

Tulsi Gabbard, the United States’ director of national intelligence, said on Monday that London agreed to drop its requirement for Apple to provide a “back door” that would have allowed access to the protected data of US users and “encroached on our civil liberties”.