- Apple is now taking the British Government for court
- Moving comes after the British government allegedly asked Apple to build an encryption key
- Apple refused, and disabled its encryption service for British users
The British Government’s privacy series with Apple over an alleged request for back door continues, with reports claiming that the company appealed to the Investigation Powers Tribunal, an independent court that can investigate claims against the security service.
The British government had allegedly asked Apple to build a master key to law enforcement authorities in its end-to-end encryption (E2EE) service, Advanced Data Protection (ADP)-but Apple refused and pulled ADP hero.
This is assumed to be the first legal challenge for any provisions of the 2016 Law of Investigation Act, allowing breaches of encryptions. The Court will investigate the legality of the British Government’s request and whether it can be disregarded or not.
Privacy concerns
The request was condemned by both privacy groups and also came as a surprise to the US government, which called the request a “clear and eerie violation of American’s Privacy and Civil Liberties” after Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard shared “serious concern” over the implications of the request.
The case could be heard this month, but it is not yet clear if there will be any publication of the hearing – and it is likely that the British government will argue that the case is limited due to national security concerns.
E2EEE, built by Apple, means photos, messages and other data from the users who chose to activate the service are protected and cannot be accessed by anyone – even Apple.
Some campaigns have previously argued for the benefit of the back door of the British government, so that law enforcement authorities have access to potentially harmful materials or evidence of abuse material – but many are concerned that the creation of a ‘master key’ brings a risk that the key will fall into the wrong hands.
