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.
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.
“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,” the judges wrote in their decision.
The IPT’s ruling also said that neither Apple nor the UK government had confirmed or denied the accuracy of media reports: “This judgment should not be taken as an indication that the media reporting is or is not accurate,” it said.
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.
This article, "Court Rejects Secrecy in Apple's Fight Against UK Backdoor Request" first appeared on MacRumors.com
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