Court blocks UK government's attempt to keep Apple’s encryption dispute a secret

Home Office’s secrecy bid on national security grounds thrown out by tribunal judges

The UK government will not be allowed to keep its legal dispute with Apple over encrypted data access under wraps after the Investigatory Powers Tribunal rejected its bid for complete secrecy.

The Home Office had argued against disclosing any details about the case on the ground it could compromise national security.

However, Lord Justice Singh and Mr Justice Johnson ruled on Monday that conducting the case entirely in secret would undermine the principle of open justice, which they described as essential to the legal system.

“We do not accept that the revelation of the bare details of the case would be damaging to the public interest or prejudicial to national security,” the judges said.

While certain aspects of the proceedings may remain confidential due to national security concerns, the decision ensures that the secret veil on key arguments from both sides will be lifted.

This development comes on the heels of a technical capability notice (TCN) issued by the Home Office to Apple earlier this year. The undisclosed order allegedly required Apple to enable UK security officials to retrieve encrypted content from its cloud service. Many feared such demands would likely force Apple to reduce the security of its Advanced Data Protection (ADP), which employs end-to-end encryption to maintain data privacy.

Apple refused to bend to the TCN, claiming it would require the company to weaken the encryption it provides to users, making their data more vulnerable to breaches. The iPhone maker also warned that such a move would set a dangerous precedent for digital privacy.

In response to the TCN, Apple on 24th February, disabled ADP for new users in the UK and expressed its disappointment over the government’s demands. The company stated it would rather withdraw features than build a “ backdoor” that may compromise user security.

Apple has since appealed the purported “backdoor” order by dragging the UK government before the Investigatory Powers Tribunal, core details of which have been kept off the public radar.

However, going forward, the public will be privy to parts of the legal proceedings, per the Investigatory Powers Tribunal's latest ruling.