US Lawmakers Advice UK spy court to hold Apple 'backdoor' Secret Hearing in Public A group of bipartisan U.S. lawmakers are imploring the head of the U.K.’s surveillance court to hold an open hearing into Apple’s anticipated dispute of an alleged secret U.K. government legal demand.
U.S. Senator Ron Wyden, along with four other federal lawmakers, reported in a letter this week to the president of the U.K.’s Investigatory Powers Tribunal (IPT) that it is “in the public interest” that some hearings about the alleged order are not held in secret.
The lawmakers’ letter likewise reveals that the alleged U.K. order has barred California-based Apple from engaging in speech that is “constitutionally protected” under U.S. law and hinders the lawmakers’ ability to conduct congressional oversight.
This also trended:
The Washington Post stated in February that the U.K. government had earlier this year secretly ordered Apple to create a “backdoor,” allowing U.K. authorities to access the cloud-stored data of more or less Apple customer worldwide. Apple, which is legally barred from saying or commenting on the “technical capabilities notice,” reportedly refused and pulled its Advanced Data Protection iCloud data-encryption feature from U.K. customers, rather than stick to with the backdoor order.
The U.K.’s Investigatory Powers Tribunal, which hears legal cases affiliated to the use of U.K. surveillance powers, is scheduled to hear a private petition on Friday, per the tribunal’s public schedule. The hearing reportedly relates to Apple, according to Wyden’s letter.
Apple did not comment when contacted by The Round Table on Friday.
The U.K. government has so far fell away to comment on operational matters, which contains “confirming or dismissing the existence of a few such notices,” per a spokesperson.
It’s not clear how many companies have received a technical demand from the U.K. government.
According to the lawmakers’ letter, Google “also recently informed Senator Wyden’s office that, if it had received a technical capabilities notice, it would be prohibited from saying that fact.”
This also trended:
Two civil rights groups, Liberty and Privacy International, are furthermore disputing the U.K. government’s backdoor order via legal submission to the IPT. The pair have likewise summoned for the oversight body’s hearing into Apple’s appeal to be held in public, joining monotony summons earlier this week by privacy rights groups.
Category: World-News
Tag: US Lawmakers Advice UK spy court to hold Apple backdoor Secret Hearing in Public
Written by Author
Published 3/15/2025