The United Kingdom government is reportedly still demanding a secret backdoor into encrypted Apple iCloud accounts, despite the Trump administration stating recently that the demand had been dropped.
Apple’s attempt to block the U.K. Home Office efforts to violate the privacy of Americans is headed for court.
UK continues iCloud backdoor request
News broke in February that the U.K. wants a backdoor into iCloud. This would allow law enforcement to secretly access the information that iPhone and Mac users store on Apple servers, despite the files being encrypted on accounts with Advanced Data Protection enabled. And the backdoor would be global — not just for residents of England, Scotland, etc.
In mid-August, Tulsi Gabbard, the U.S. director of national intelligence, announced that the demand had been dropped after pressure from the Trump administration.
“The UK has agreed to drop its mandate for Apple to provide a ‘backdoor’ that would have enabled access to the protected encrypted data of American citizens,” she said. But that’s not the end of the matter.
The Financial Times reported Friday that “the Home Office is yet to modify its demand for Apple to grant access to data belonging to customers outside the UK.”
Apple taking UK Home Office to court
The request for the backdoor through Apple’s encryption is reportedly justified by the U.K. Investigatory Powers Act of 2016. This gives a wide range of agencies warrantless access to user data held anywhere in the world.
U.K. law forbids Apple from commenting on the issue. However, the company is reportedly fighting the British requirement. Apple and other companies long ago made it clear that hackers inevitably will exploit any deliberately inserted weakness in encryption.
Apple’s case fighting the demand will be heard by the U.K.’s Investigatory Powers Tribunal, which hears complaints about surveillance by intelligence services and law enforcement. And the case is going forward, according to the Financial Times, because the Home Office still wants a backdoor into iCloud.
Plus, the demand still includes the United States. As the filing states, “The obligations … are not limited to the UK or users of the service in the UK; they apply globally in respect of the relevant data categories of all iCloud users,” points out the Financial Times.