Apple Takes UK Government Back to Court Over Demand to Read Encrypted User Data

Key points

• Apple filed a fresh legal complaint at the UK tribunal that handles challenges to covert surveillance orders.
• The complaint targets a Home Office demand for backdoor access, meaning a secret built-in method for authorities to read encrypted iCloud data.
• Apple withdrew Advanced Data Protection from new UK users in February 2025 rather than comply with the original order.
• A revised government request issued in October 2025 narrowed the demand to exclude US users, after American politicians objected.
• Liberty and Privacy International are running parallel legal challenges to the same regime of secret orders.

Apple has gone back to court against the UK government, filing a fresh legal complaint at the Investigatory Powers Tribunal, the specialist court that handles disputes over how the British state uses its surveillance powers. BBC Technology first reported the filing. Apple hasn't said publicly what the new complaint covers, but the Financial Times reported it targets another demand for backdoor access to iCloud data.

What is a backdoor, and why does it matter?

A backdoor is a hidden way into a locked system, built deliberately so that someone other than the owner can get in. Apple's Advanced Data Protection feature, which users can switch on voluntarily, applies end-to-end encryption to iCloud backups, photos and voice memos. End-to-end encryption means only the device owner can read the data: not Apple, not hackers who intercept it, not governments. A backdoor would change that entirely.

Apple's position hasn't shifted. "We have never built a backdoor or master key to any of our products or services and we never will," the company said, repeating a statement it first issued after its initial legal challenge.

How did this fight start?

The UK government used the Investigatory Powers Act 2016, a law that lets ministers issue secret notices forcing companies to give security services access to customer data, to demand Apple open up Advanced Data Protection. Apple refused and pulled the feature for new UK users in February 2025, meaning British customers can no longer sign up for the highest level of iCloud protection.

The first order was withdrawn after US politicians complained it could expose American citizens' data. A replacement, issued in October, was redrawn to apply only outside the United States.

Should ordinary people in the UK be worried?

If you're a UK resident using iCloud, you can't currently enable Advanced Data Protection at all. That means Apple can technically access your cloud backups if ordered to do so, though separate legal authorisation is still required before any specific data request goes through.

Liberty's director of external relations Ruth Ehrlich put it plainly: "Opening a backdoor to all of that information carries serious risks to our personal data," covering bank details, health records and private images.

The government argues access is "necessary and proportionate" to tackle terrorism and child sexual abuse. Sir Brian Leveson, the Investigatory Powers Commissioner, has previously pushed back on the term "backdoor" specifically, noting any notice requires sign-off from both a Secretary of State and an independent Judicial Commissioner. That question of proportionality is precisely what the tribunal will now decide.

We first covered the Investigatory Powers Act's use against Apple on 7 August 2026. This second complaint is the one to watch: the narrowed October order suggests the government believes it can construct a demand that survives legal scrutiny, and if the tribunal agrees, encryption backdoors become an established tool of UK law enforcement.