Dan Milmo explains:
Apple will challenge a UK government demand to access encrypted customer data at a Royal Courts of Justice hearing in London on Friday.<
The appeal will be considered by the investigatory powers tribunal, which investigates claims that the domestic intelligence services have acted unlawfully.
What is the UK government asking Apple to do?
The Home Office has issued a “technical capability notice” under the Investigatory Powers Act, which requires companies to assist law enforcement in providing evidence. The notice focuses on Apple’s Advanced Data Protection service, which encrypts personal data uploaded and stored remotely in Apple’s cloud servers.
The government wants Apple to provide the UK with the ability to access the content via a backdoor into the service.
Why is Apple objecting?
Apple emphasises privacy as one of its “core values”. In a submission to parliament last year it said the IPA gave the government the “authority to issue secret orders requiring providers to break encryption by inserting backdoors into their software products”.
Read more at The Guardian.