Apple has launched a new legal challenge against a UK government demand to access its customers' highly encrypted data, a year after the Home Office agreed to abandon its previous request. The complaint, filed last month at the Investigatory Powers Tribunal (IPT), an independent court that investigates claims that UK intelligence services acted unlawfully, was first reported by the Financial Times.
The UK government had made a second request to Apple to grant it a "back door" to encrypted iCloud data belonging to British users, according to an order issued by the court. Britain backed down on its original demand — which covered both UK and US customers — last year after a heated transatlantic tussle over encryption between London and Washington. UK authorities subsequently issued a new "technical capability notice" (TCN) that did not apply to American users.
Apple is now seeking to challenge the British government's powers to issue TCNs under the UK Investigatory Powers Act. The legislation compels companies to provide information to law enforcement working on cases including terrorism and child sexual abuse — potentially including access to customer data protected by secure encryption.
The court sent an order giving notice of the new Apple complaint to Privacy International, which alongside fellow campaigner Liberty had previously launched a separate complaint against TCNs at the IPT. A case management hearing on how the parallel complaints should be handled is scheduled for next month. A Privacy International spokesperson said: "We are happy to learn that Apple is once again challenging the UK's regime of secret orders... Apple's claim, alongside ours and Liberty's, is crucially important to preserving all of our privacy and security."
The original TCN asked Apple for access to data protected by its Advanced Data Protection (ADP) programme in the event of a national security risk. Apple withdrew UK customers' access to ADP in January 2025, arguing that any "back door" would make all users more vulnerable to data breaches. Neither Apple nor the Home Office responded to requests for comment; both are legally restricted from discussing TCNs.
