Apple has filed an appeal with the UK’s Investigatory Powers Tribunal in an effort to overturn a secret government order requiring the tech giant to create a backdoor for spying on encrypted user data.
Ars Technica reports that Apple is challenging a classified Technical Capability Notice issued by the UK Home Office under the Investigatory Powers Act of 2016. The notice, which was issued in January, demands that Apple provide UK security officials with a backdoor to access all content that any Apple user worldwide has uploaded to iCloud, including fully encrypted material.
The appeal, believed to be the first of its kind, was filed by Apple last month around the same time the company withdrew its Advanced Data Protection (ADP) service from the UK. ADP is an optional level of encryption for iCloud that prevents even Apple from viewing user data. In response to the government order, Apple announced that it could no longer offer ADP to new users in the UK and that current users in the country would eventually need to disable the security feature.
Apple has long been a vocal critic of the Investigatory Powers Act, also known as the Snoopers’ Charter. In testimony submitted in March 2024, the company argued that the law “purports to apply extraterritorially, permitting the UK government to assert that it may impose secret requirements on providers located in other countries and that apply to their users globally.”
The tech giant has consistently maintained that it has never built a backdoor or master key to any of its products or services and has vowed never to do so. Security and privacy advocates have echoed Apple’s concerns, warning that intentionally introducing backdoors for government access would necessarily make products and services less secure and more vulnerable to exploitation by criminal hackers and foreign governments.
The UK Home Office has refused to confirm or deny the existence of the January order, as the Investigatory Powers Act forbids unauthorized disclosure of the existence or contents of a warrant issued under the act. The secrecy surrounding the case has raised questions about transparency and accountability in the government’s use of far-reaching surveillance powers.
The Investigatory Powers Tribunal, an independent judicial body that examines complaints against UK security services, is expected to hear Apple’s case as early as this month. However, it remains unclear whether there will be any public disclosure of the hearing, as the government is likely to argue that the case should be restricted on national security grounds.
If the tribunal rules against Apple, the company could challenge the decision in an appellate court. The outcome of the case could have significant implications for the balance between national security and individual privacy rights, as well as the ability of tech companies to protect their users’ data from government intrusion.
Read more at Ars Technica here.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship.
