UK silence over demand for Apple data access is farcical, lawyer says
Apple and campaign groups argue the secrecy blocks open justice as the tribunal weighs whether the government can keep denying the order’s existence.
- On Thursday, Apple and campaign groups challenged the British government's secrecy policy at the Investigatory Powers Tribunal in London, contesting the refusal to confirm the existence of a Technical Capability Notice requiring access to encrypted user data.
- Early last year, Britain secretly ordered Apple to create an iCloud backdoor, causing the company to remove Advanced Data Protection for UK users; a previous worldwide order was dropped following negotiations with President Donald Trump's administration.
- Representing Privacy International and Liberty, Ben Jaffey called the government's position "become farcical" at the hearing, arguing that "the horse has long bolted" because U.S. officials and unnamed sources had already confirmed the notice's existence.
- The Investigatory Powers Tribunal will issue a ruling on whether the government can continue relying on its "neither confirm nor deny" policy, while government lawyer Neil Sheldon defended the secrecy by arguing that revealing information "would provide material assistance to hostile actors."
- A full hearing on Apple's challenge to the underlying Technical Capability Notice is unlikely until next year, as the ongoing legal battle highlights the tension between national security requirements and the principle of open justice.
17 Articles
17 Articles
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Apple has urged the Home Office to come clean over its request for the company to create a "backdoor" for officials to snoop on Britons' phones. Human rights groups Liberty and Privacy International have joined the American tech giant in calling for a tribunal to remove a gag order which blocks the Government from confirming the order was made. It is believed that Labour finally admitting the encryption order's existence could pave the way for p…
Apple pushes UK court to lift secrecy around encryption backdoor order
In a hearing today, Apple challenged the UK government’s refusal to publicly confirm whether it has issued an order requiring the company to provide access to encrypted user data. Here are the details. more…
UK silence over demand for Apple data access is farcical, lawyer says
The British government's refusal to confirm whether it has issued an order to bypass encryption to access customer data held by Apple has become farcical, a lawyer for civil rights groups told a London tribunal on Thursday.
UK encryption secrecy over Apple data access called ‘farcical’ by lawyer
The British government’s refusal to confirm whether it has issued an order to bypass encryption to access customer data held by Apple has become farcical, a lawyer for civil rights groups told a London tribunal on Thursday. In January last year, Britain issued an order, known as a technical capability notice, for what is known […]
Apple has confirmed it has launched a new legal complaint against the UK government at a court that deals with objections to the use of covert surveillance powers. The tech giant has not told BBC News what the complaint relates to but the Financial Times has reported it is another challenge to a Home Office […] Source
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