Apple escalates its resistance against the British government and files a lawsuit with the Investigatory Powers Tribunal to overturn an order to weaken the encryption of its iCloud services. The British authorities are demanding a so-called backdoor from the US company that would allow law enforcement access to encrypted user data.
The lawsuit marks the first time that the provisions of the Investigatory Powers Act of 2016 are being checked for their legality in court. The tribunal will decide whether the British order is lawful and declare it void if in doubt. A hearing could take place as early as this month, but it is unclear whether it will be public. The government is likely to invoke national security interests to achieve confidentiality.
The background of the dispute is a so-called Technical Capability Notice (TCN) that Apple received in January. The order is directed against the optional Advanced Data Protection (ADP), a particularly secure iCloud encryption that Apple had introduced in 2022. In order not to have to comply with British requirements, the company withdrew the service from the country as early as February.
But even after the withdrawal, the British government still does not see Apple in full compliance. The TCN could also force Apple to provide authorities with data from users outside the UK.
The British demand has sparked sharp criticism in the USA. President Donald Trump compared the approach to Chinese surveillance practices. US Intelligence Coordinator Tulsi Gabbard called the access to American data an "egregious violation of privacy" and warned of a breach of the bilateral data protection agreement between the USA and Great Britain.
The British government defends its position. A spokesperson for the Home Office stated that operational details could not be commented on, but emphasized that it is the country's long-term stance to "protect citizens from the most serious crimes such as terrorism and child abuse, without losing sight of data protection.
British Security Minister Dan Jarvis also rejected the criticism: "The notion that privacy and security are at odds is wrong. We can and must ensure both." The Investigatory Powers Act contains strict safeguards and judicial oversight to ensure that data is only requested in absolute exceptional cases.
Apple did not comment directly on the lawsuit but reiterated its position from the previous month: "We have never built a backdoor or master key for our products or services—and never will.
Critics, meanwhile, question the effectiveness of the TCN orders. A former senior security official described the system as "untested and probably not feasible." He argued that a secret order against a global technology company like Apple would hardly be enforceable without becoming publicly known.
