Apple has launched a new legal challenge against the British government, escalating a long-running dispute over the privacy of encrypted data. The company filed a complaint with the UK’s Investigatory Powers Tribunal last month, contesting a secret government order that would require Apple to provide access to encrypted iCloud backups for users in Britain. This legal action marks the latest chapter in a conflict that began in early 2025, when the UK Home Office first issued a technical capability notice seeking a way to bypass Apple’s security measures.
The core of the disagreement involves Apple’s Advanced Data Protection, a feature that uses end-to-end encryption to secure user data. With this system, encryption keys are stored on the user's device rather than on Apple’s servers, meaning not even the company can access the information. To comply with the government's initial demands, Apple chose to disable this feature for new users in the UK in February 2025, rather than create a "backdoor" that would weaken security for its global customer base.
While the UK government previously withdrew a broader request that would have affected both British and American users following diplomatic friction with Washington, it has since reissued a narrower notice targeting only UK accounts. Apple maintains that it has never built a master key or backdoor for its services and argues that any such mechanism would fundamentally compromise the security of its products for all users, regardless of their location.
Neither Apple nor the UK Home Office has provided public details on the specific contents of the latest notice, as both are legally restricted from discussing technical capability notices. However, the Investigatory Powers Tribunal has confirmed the filing, and a case management hearing is scheduled for September. Privacy advocacy groups, including Privacy International and Liberty, have also been notified of the proceedings, as they have previously raised their own concerns regarding the lawfulness of these government powers.