Report from The Guardian
In Brief – Apple has again launched a legal challenge to a UK government order calling for access to customers’ encrypted iCloud data. The move comes a year after the Home Office withdrew a broader request that led to a dispute with Washington. Apple’s latest complaint, filed in July with the Investigatory Powers Tribunal (IPT), challenges the government’s authority to issue “technical capability notices” (TCNs) under the Investigatory Powers Act. Although the law prohibits both sides from discussing the contents of such orders, the latest one reportedly applies only to British users, while the previous one was global, including US customers. Apple continues to argue that an encryption “back door” would undermine customer security and expose information to greater risks. Last year, Apple responded to the Home Office’s encryption efforts by withdrawing its Advanced Data Protection service for UK customers. Privacy advocates including Privacy International and Liberty are separately challenging the legality and secrecy of government TCNs and have asked that Apple’s case be heard publicly because of its significant privacy implications. A case management hearing is expected in September.
Context – The UK’s aggressive efforts to undermine strong encryption has been a striking example of its digital policy schizophrenia as it aims to be a European AI and tech haven while also pressing forward on tech regulations that run contrary to that goal. The Online Safety Act (OSA) was heavily criticized for threats to encryption. Top messaging services said they would abandon the UK market if the bill was not changed, and it eventually was. When the Home Office moved against Apple’s encryption in January 2025, it might have thought the incoming Trump Administration would continue its anti-encryption stance from his first term, but the new administration has a far more robust digital right wing and President Trump objected personally. Although the Home Office dropped its effort to force Apple to provide a backdoor to iCloud encryption for all users, including US citizens, it soon reopened its campaign for access to encrypted British user data.