Apple is contesting a U.K. government order for data access in the Investigatory Powers Tribunal (IPT), according to the Financial Times. This order targets iCloud backups secured by end-to-end encryption.
Last month, leaks revealed a January directive demanding that Apple create a backdoor to access encrypted iCloud backups. U.K. officials are using national security legislation to compel Apple to provide unencrypted data to law enforcement.
In response, Apple announced it would terminate access to the highly encrypted version of iCloud for U.K. users. The IPT challenge was filed simultaneously, signaling Apple’s intention to overturn the order affecting its Advanced Data Protection (ADP) feature while withdrawing the security option from the U.K. market.
Notably, Apple continues to offer strongly encrypted iCloud backups in other countries, even though the order sought access to data from users outside the U.K. The British government asserts that Apple has not complied, despite disabling the feature locally.
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This could mark the first test of the U.K.’s encryption-breaking powers before the body overseeing security services, although hearings may occur in secrecy.
Apple has not provided a new statement on the situation but reiterated its previous disappointment regarding the loss of the security feature for U.K. users.
