Apple launches new legal challenge to UK data access

Apple has launched a new legal challenge against the British government's latest attempt to create a so-called backdoor to access encrypted customer data, the Financial Times reported on Monday.



The report said Apple last month lodged a legal complaint at the Investigatory Powers Tribunal — Britain's independent judicial body — over the Interior Ministry's demand that Apple allow it access to encrypted cloud backups of data belonging to British users.



Britain dropped last year a previous mandate for such a backdoor that would have allowed access to British and U.S. customers' data following months of negotiations with the U.S. President Donald Trump's administration.



However, British authorities subsequently issued a new "technical capability notice" to Apple that did not apply to U.S. users, the FT report said.



A British government spokesperson said it would not comment on legal proceedings or operational matters, including confirming or denying the existence of individual notices.