Activist Groups Challenge UK Demand for Apple Encryption Backdoor

Two human rights groups have filed a legal complaint with the UK's Investigatory Powers Tribunal (IPT) in an attempt to quash the UK government's demand for Apple to allow backdoor access to its encrypted data (via Financial Times).

Earlier this year, the UK government invoked the Investigatory Powers Act to demand that Apple create a backdoor granting secret access to encrypted user data stored in iCloud globally. However, Apple refused to comply.

In response, rather than granting the requested access, Apple withdrew Advanced Data Protection from the UK, ensuring it would not be required to provide decryption capabilities. Advanced Data Protection offers end-to-end encryption for iPhone, iPad, and Mac users' data stored in iCloud.

Apple subsequently lodged a legal complaint to the IPT. "We have never built a back door or master key to any of our products, and we never will," Apple said at the time.

Now Privacy International and Liberty have done the same. The groups argue that Apple's appeal should be heard in public, and that ordering Apple to compromise the security of its products breaches its customers' free expression and privacy rights.

"The UK's use of a secret order to undermine security for people worldwide is unacceptable and disproportionate," said Caroline Wilson Palow, legal director at Privacy International. "People the world over rely on end-to-end encryption to protect themselves from harassment and oppression. No country should have the power to undermine that protection for everyone."

"It would be an entirely reckless and unprecedented move from the UK government to open up a back door to this data, and one that will have global consequences," said Akiko Hart, Liberty’s director. "We need concrete guarantees from the UK government that they won’t proceed with these plans."

The matter is being considered at a closed hearing of the tribunal at the High Court on Friday. Apple is not able to discuss the order made by the UK in public due to the terms of the law.

Several UK media organizations, including the BBC, Reuters, Sky News and the publishers of The Guardian, The Times, The Telegraph, Computer Weekly and Financial Times, have also made a submission to the IPT arguing that the Apple case should not be heard in private.

The US government is also looking into whether the UK's demand has violated the CLOUD act, which keeps the UK from asking for data from US citizens, and vice versa.

In a February interview with The Spectator, US president Donald Trump said he confronted UK prime minister Keir Starmer over the move and compared it with Chinese government surveillance.

"We told them you can't do this," Trump said. "We actually told [Starmer]... that's incredible. That's something, you know, that you hear about with China."

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