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A hearing in Apple’s legal battle with the UK government over access to customer data was held behind closed doors on Friday after the press failed to gain entry to proceedings.
The US tech firm has launched an appeal with the investigatory powers tribunal after the Home Office demanded access to encrypted data stored remotely in Apple’s cloud servers.
UK media organisations including the Guardian, the BBC, the Financial Times and Computer Weekly made a submission to the tribunal asking for press access on public interest grounds but they failed to gain entry.
Sir James Eadie KC, who represents the government in high-profile cases, was seen entering the courtroom at the Royal Courts of Justice on Friday.
Apple is fighting a technology capability notice issued under the Investigatory Powers Act, which requires companies to assist law enforcement in providing evidence. The notice demanded access to Apple’s Advanced Data Protection (ADP) service, which heavily encrypts personal data stored remotely in its servers.
Apple refused and has challenged the order at the tribunal, which investigates whether the domestic intelligence services have acted unlawfully. It also withdrew ADP from the UK last month, saying: “We have never built a backdoor or master key to any of our products or services and we never will.”
ADP uses end-to-end encryption, which means only the account holder can decrypt the files. Messaging services such as iMessage and FaceTime remain end-to-end encrypted by default.
The government’s secret legal demand is officially known as a technical capability notice. Recipients of a TCN cannot reveal the existence of an order unless they are given permission from the home secretary. The tribunal’s website states that hearings should be closed to the public only when “strictly necessary”, but its rules declare there must be no disclosure of information that is “prejudicial to national security”.
On Thursday, a group of Democratic and Republican lawmakers in the US called on the tribunal to “remove the cloak of secrecy” around the UK government’s order and to make Friday’s hearing, as well as any further proceedings, public.
Bloomberg reported on Thursday that British officials had initiated talks with their US counterparts over the order. The UK has reportedly assured the US that it is not seeking blanket access and would only seek data related to serious crimes such as terrorism and child sexual abuse.
The Home Office has been asked for comment.
