The Fruity Cargo Cult Apple has launched a fresh legal challenge against the Home Office after ministers tried again to make it technically possible to reach encrypted customer data.
According to the Financial Times the iPhone maker filed a complaint last month at the Investigatory Powers Tribunal.
The fight is not quite the cartoon version in which bored spooks browse fanboy selfies for LOLs and giggles. A technical capability notice is supposed to make a company able to comply when a warrant, authorisation or notice later turns up.
That still leaves a fat security problem. If Job’s Mob must build a way into encrypted iCloud backups for British users, it says the lock is no longer much of a lock.
The UK dropped its first demand in 2025 after it caused a diplomatic stink with Washington. That version would have covered UK and US customers, which went down badly across the Atlantic.
UK authorities then came back with a narrower technical capability notice aimed at British users. These come from the Investigatory Powers Act, which the government says is needed for serious investigations. They can force tech outfits to maintain systems that help security services access customer data, including material protected by strong encryption.
Job’s Mob is now challenging the government’s power to issue the notices rather than merely grumbling about one awkward order.
The court sent notice of the new complaint to Privacy International. The human rights outfit, along with Liberty, had started a separate case at the tribunal against the idea.
A case management hearing is due next month to decide how the parallel complaints should be handled.
“We are happy to learn that Apple is once again challenging the UK’s regime of secret orders,” Privacy International said.
The campaign group said the two legal challenges were “crucially important to preserving all of our privacy and security”.
Job’s Mob confirmed the tribunal filing but kept its trap shut beyond that. The Investigatory Powers Act bans recipients from confirming a TCN exists or discussing what it says. This is mostly because if you make the things public, the criminals being investigated will cover their tracks.
“The UK supports strong encryption and robust privacy protections, but it is also vital that law enforcement can access communications when necessary and proportionate to protect the public from terrorism, serious crime and child sexual abuse,” the government said.
