UK Court Rejects Government Secrecy in Apple's Fight Against Backdoor Request

Apple has filed a legal appeal against a UK government order requiring the company to create a "back door" to its encrypted cloud storage systems, the Investigatory Powers Tribunal (IPT) confirmed on Monday (via Reuters). The confirmation means that the Home Office cannot keep all the details of its demand out of the public domain.

iCloud Versus UK Key Feature
The high-profile challenge follows reports earlier this year that the UK used its Investigatory Powers Act to demand secret access to encrypted user data uploaded to iCloud worldwide. Apple responded by removing its Advanced Data Protection feature from the UK rather than compromising its security standards.

According to the IPT ruling, the British government had sought to keep details of the case private. The Home Office argued that publicizing the existence of the appeal could damage national security, but Judges Rabinder Singh and Jeremy Johnson rejected this claim.

"It would have been a truly extraordinary step to conduct a hearing entirely in secret without any public revelation of the fact that a hearing was taking place," the judges wrote in their decision. "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."

Monday's ruling follows a hearing in London in March, which was held in secret.

Apple previously made it clear that it would pull ‌iCloud‌ features from the UK rather than compromise its user security, and while that only extends to Advanced Data Protection right now, it could lead to key features like FaceTime and iMessage being removed in the country. The UK wants backdoor access to ‌iCloud‌ data to fight terrorism and investigate child sex abuse.

The UK's order was particularly controversial as it would have required Apple to provide access to data from users outside the UK without their governments' knowledge. Additionally, the IPA makes it illegal for companies to disclose the existence of such government demands.

The US government is reportedly investigating whether the UK's demand violates the CLOUD Act, which prevents the UK from requesting data from US citizens.

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Top Rated Comments

TechWhisperer Avatar
14 weeks ago
Give ‘em hell, Apple!
Score: 26 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Ctrlos Avatar
14 weeks ago
The original request was an invasion of civil liberties, pure and simple.
Score: 15 Votes (Like | Disagree)
surferfb Avatar
14 weeks ago

They don't need to. All they need to do is care about the loss of sales from this. That's enough for them to fight it for consumers.
I actually really do think Apple cares about its customers in a way other companies don't. Does that mean they are always going to put their customers' needs over their profit? Of course not. But I'd argue that the path they are currently taking with regards to this UK request is absolutely putting their customers first.
Score: 15 Votes (Like | Disagree)
macbookj0e Avatar
14 weeks ago
Governments the world over use the “national security” excuse as a means to cover up their shifty practices. I’m fed up with it.
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
mazz0 Avatar
14 weeks ago

No courage to pull out of UK. The greed for money is too great. Nintendo isn't selling the switch 2 in USA for now, and Nike has said they are not building factories in USA.
The words “courage” and “greed” make no sense in this context. They’re a capitalist business, their job is to make money, not moral points. Businesses are greedy by definition.

Nintendo isn’t taking a stand against anything, they’re just not taking *preorders* now because of the volatility - it makes absolute sense to hold off on exchange of money until the last minute so you’re making the most informed pricing decision. This isn’t any more courageous or any less greedy than Apple’s stance, it’s all just businesses doing what they think will make them the most money.
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
JonathanParker Avatar
14 weeks ago
Tear them apart Apple
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)