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Apple’s appeal against the U.K.’s demands to be provided access to any material uploaded to iCloud will not remain confidential. The country’s Investigatory Powers Tribunal dismissed the government’s request to prevent details about the hearing from being published on its website, despite claims of national security concerns.
In a judgement published on Monday, Judges Rabinder Singh and Judge Jeremy Johnson wrote: “For the reasons that are set out in our private judgement, we do not accept that the revelation of the bare details of the case would be damaging to the public interest or prejudicial to national security.”
In February, it was reported that the U.K.’s Home Secretary had asked Apple for a way to access user information that was covered under Advanced Data Protection, an optional security layer introduced in 2022. Data stored under ADP offers the highest level of protection the company provides, keeping information hidden even from Apple itself.
They invoked the Investigatory Powers Act of 2016, which grants law enforcement the authority to compel companies to provide access to data as part of criminal investigations. The law also prevents Apple from publicly disclosing the request or voicing its concerns to the public, effectively placing the company under a gag order.
In response, Apple disabled access to the ADP encryption feature for devices registered in the UK. iPhone, iPad, and Mac users in the country can no longer sign up for ADP, and existing users must disable it manually to retain iCloud access. The company then appealed the U.K.’s order at the Investigatory Powers Tribunal, arguing that compliance would jeopardise user privacy and set a dangerous precedent. It is this case that the U.K. wished to keep private.
“There is no reason why the U.K. [government] should have the authority to decide for citizens of the world whether they can avail themselves of the proven security benefits that flow from end-to-end encryption,” Apple wrote in a statement to Parliament.
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The U.K. says it only wants access to data useful for criminal investigations
Senior officials from the U.K. privately met with their U.S. counterparts in March to clarify that their request for access to encrypted data in Apple’s iCloud is not a blanket demand. Instead, they are seeking access solely to data linked to individuals already involved in crimes such as terrorism, according to Bloomberg.
British officials emphasised separate warrants would be required for each access request, Bloomberg’s sources said, ensuring they are strictly tied to investigations into serious crime within the U.K. They denied seeking wide-ranging powers to access anyone’s data for any reason, particularly that of U.S. residents, a claim that has fueled controversy.
U.S. lawmakers warn of free speech and privacy risks
U.S. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard warned the U.K.’s demands may violate the CLOUD Act, which limits foreign governments from directly accessing encrypted data stored by U.S. companies.
She also raised concerns about the effective gag order the Investigatory Powers Act of 2016 imposes on Apple, which was reiterated by a bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers. They urged the U.K. to “remove the cloak of secrecy” surrounding the order, claiming that it is “violating the free speech rights of US companies and impairing Congress’ power and duty to conduct oversight on matters of national security.”
Under President Donald Trump’s first term as president, the FBI protested Apple’s ADP over similar concerns regarding law enforcement’s inability to access encrypted data — a barrier the U.K. is now attempting to bypass. Meanwhile, tech companies like Apple warn that creating a backdoor would increase the risk of abuse by criminals and authoritarian governments alike.
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