Tribunal filing shows UK pushed for wider back-door access to Apple data
A new court document reveals that the UK government sought broader “back-door” access to Apple’s private customer data amid ongoing controversy over the impact of the UK’s Investigatory Powers Act.
According to the Financial Times, a new legal document has been filed with the Investigatory Powers Tribunal (IPT), an independent court that reviews complaints against UK security services.
The document also reported that the Home Office has yet to modify its demand for Apple to grant access to data belonging to customers outside the UK, despite claims by the US government that it would.
Apple launched a legal challenge to the Tribunal in March against a Home Office order to create back-door access to the US technology company’s most secure cloud storage systems.
In April, the Tribunal rejected the Home Office’s attempt to keep the legal battle with Apple over encrypted data access private. The IPT ruled that disclosing the “bare details” would not harm national security or the public interest, allowing the case to become public.
This case is expected to have a court hearing scheduled for early next year.
This follows the UK government’s issuance of a notice under the Investigatory Powers Act earlier this year, requesting that Apple provide access to data from its users.
This was said to include encrypted data protected by the tech giant’s advanced data protection (ADP) tool, an opt-in tool within Apple’s iCloud service, which only an account holder can access, and is currently out of the reach of even Apple.
In February, Apple removed its ADP feature from the UK due to a dispute with the government.
Labour’s efforts to force Apple to share encrypted user data have caused political tensions between Downing Street and Washington.
Last week, President Trump’s intelligence chief, Tulsi Gabbard, told the Financial Times that the UK government has agreed to abandon its demands for a “back door” for data. This came after US vice-president JD Vance reportedly intervened to broker the exemption for the tech giant.