Apple has launched an appeal to overturn an order by the UK government demanding backdoor access to all content Apple users upload to iCloud, including users outside the UK.
The US firm is appealing to the Investigatory Powers Tribunal, an independent court that has jurisdiction to investigate the UK security service. The Financial Times reports that the case is thought to be the first time that provisions in the 2016 Investigatory Powers Act allowing UK authorities to break encryption have been tested before.
Earlier this year, Apple was sent an “unprecedented” secret order to give UK officials unfettered access to encrypted iCloud data worldwide.
The directive concerns Apple’s most robust iCloud security measure: Advanced Data Protection. This optional mode, which the user must enable as it is not on by default, promises to keep a user’s data safer against hacks and data breaches.
When Advanced Data Protection is enabled, protected iCloud data is only accessible through encryption keys, which are solely accessible via trusted devices. The end-to-end encrypted data can only be decrypted from a trusted device when the user is signed into the associated Apple account. Nobody else can access this data, including Apple.
In response to the order, Apple removed Advanced Data Protection for UK users, calling the move “gravely disappointing.” The tech giant is unable to comment directly on the secret order as disclosing it would be a crime—despite it being widely reported.
This story has global implications and directly affects Apple customers in the United States since the order would not only prevent users from having the protections Apple promised them, but it would also provide a foreign government with the ability to access private American data.
However, it’s not just UK officials expressing concern over Advanced Data Protection: the FBI has also misgivings that Apple’s most robust encryption provides bad actors, including terrorists, child abusers, and human traffickers, additional protection.
Nevertheless, the UK’s order has ruffled feathers in the White House. President Trump characterized it as “something that you hear about in China,” while US head of intelligence Tulsi Gabbard says she was not informed in advance about the UK’s order.
Tech companies routinely counter that providing governments with backdoor access to user data creates exploitable opportunities for criminals and authoritarian governments to violate users’ rights.
Image credits: Header photo licensed via Depositphotos.
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