Privacy advocates challenge UK surveillance law targeting Apple in legal action

The civil rights organizations Privacy International (PI) and Liberty are taking action against the recently published British secret order, according to which Apple is to extract encrypted contents of backups from the iCloud and other data of all users worldwide at the request of authorities in the United Kingdom. Together with two individual complainants, civil society representatives have filed two complaints with the Investigatory Powers Tribunal (IPT), according to PI. The London court is responsible for monitoring the British security authorities. In one of the complaints, they fundamentally dispute the "legality, necessity and secrecy of the legal regulation" on which the surveillance order is based.

The highly controversial order is apparently based on a so-called Technical Capability Notice (TCN) under Section 253 of the UK's Investigatory Powers Act (IPA) of 2016. Apple recently announced that it would no longer offer the Advanced Data Protection (ADP) function for end-to-end iCloud encryption in the UK. In doing so, the iPhone manufacturer wants to avoid having to install a backdoor that would affect users worldwide. Reports later emerged that Apple had lodged an objection to the secret order and that it would be discussed at a secret hearing of the IPT.

Court hearing to be public

PI and Liberty are also demanding that the court hearing be made public. They argue that there is great public interest in the case and that the broad media coverage of the case "makes any claims to secrecy irrelevant". The two organizations emphasize that TCNs that require companies to "indiscriminately undermine the security and data of billions of people worldwide can never be necessary or proportionate". Extreme surveillance powers must be subject to very strict safeguards.

According to PI and Liberty, the European Convention on Human Rights prohibits the UK from interfering with the fundamental rights to privacy and freedom of expression. Exceptions may only be made for legitimate reasons and appropriate safeguards, which is more than doubtful. As more and more people lead their lives in the digital sphere, security measures such as the end-to-end encryption practiced by Apple with ADP are becoming increasingly important. The latter provides access to secure and private spaces for personal development and protects against criminals and disproportionate surveillance. PI has been campaigning against the British government's "unprecedented attack" on data protection since the beginning of February. Together with Liberty, the organization has already achieved many successes before the IPT.

(nie)