UK Home Office loses attempt to keep legal battle with Apple secret
The investigatory powers tribunal, which investigates whether the domestic intelligence services have acted unlawfully, on Monday rejected a bid by the Home Office to withhold from the public the 'bare details' of the case.
A judgment from Lord Justice Singh, president of the investigatory powers tribunal, and Mr Justice Johnson, on Monday confirmed some details of the case for the first time.
They confirmed that the case relates to a legal challenge brought against the Home Office by Apple over the power to make technical capability notices under the Investigatory Powers Act. According to the judgment, the Home Office argued that revealing the existence of the claim, as well as the names of the parties involved, would be damaging to national security.
'We do not accept that the revelation of the bare details of the case would be damaging to the public interest or prejudicial to national security,' said the judges.
The Guardian and other media organisations have reported that the Home Office has served Apple with a technical capability notice (TCN), in which the government demanded access to Apple's Advanced Data Protection service, which heavily encrypts personal data stored remotely in its servers. Apple has pulled ADP from the UK rather than comply with the notice, saying it would never build a 'backdoor' to its products or services.
Singh and Johnson said that neither Apple or the Home Office had confirmed or denied the accuracy of reports around the TCN and its contents.
'This judgment should not be taken as an indication that the media reporting is or is not accurate,' the judges added. The details of the TCN remain unknown.
Journalists were not allowed into a hearing last month related to the case.
Multiple media organisations, including the Guardian, the Financial Times, the BBC and the PA news agency, asked the tribunal to confirm who was taking part in the hearing on 14 March and for it to sit in public.
Neither journalists nor legal representatives on behalf of the media were allowed into the hearing, and the identities of the parties involved were not disclosed head of the hearing.
The judges added that it could be possible for 'some or all future hearings to incorporate a public element, with or without reporting restrictions' but that could not be ruled on at this stage in the process.
Recipients of a TCN cannot reveal the existence of an order unless they are given permission from the home secretary. The tribunal's website states that hearings should be closed to the public only when 'strictly necessary', but its rules declare there must be no disclosure of information that is 'prejudicial to national security'.
Ross McKenzie, a data protection partner at the law firm Addleshaw Goddard, said despite the ruling it was 'highly unlikely' there would be any in-depth revelations of the Home Office's case for accessing Apple user data.
'We may get a skeletal decision similar to what has been shared so far, which summarises the rationale without any meaningful detail,' said McKenzie.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Times
3 hours ago
- Times
Now parents can track their kids with an AirTag in their trainers
A new trainer for children has been designed with a secret compartment for an Apple AirTag so parents can track them. The footwear company Skechers has just released the 'Find My Skechers' range, which features a hidden section under the heel of the insole for an AirTag. AirTags are tracking devices designed to help people locate their belongings. But they are also used to track children and pets, despite Apple advising against this use. Some parents who do not want to buy a smartphone or smartwatch for their children use the tags as a tracker instead. Skechers, a US company, appears to have tried to skirt the recommendation of tracking children by marketing the feature as a way to locate a lost shoe. But an advert also seems to suggest that child safety is the objective, with a script that has a parent say: 'Skechers is famous for comfort and now they are giving us comfort of mind when it comes to our kids. Feel secure with new Skechers AirTag compatible shoes'
Daily Mail
3 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Apple to invest another $100B in the US
President Donald Trump will appear alongside Apple CEO Tim Cook as the tech giant announces another $100 billion in investment in the United States. Apple will commit to the creation of an 'American Manufacturing Program,' as Trump has pushed for more of the company's supply chain to be moved back to the United States. 'President Trump's America First economic agenda has secured trillions in dollars in investments that support American jobs and bolster American businesses,' White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers told the Daily Mail in a statement. 'Today's announcement with Apple is another win for our manufacturing industry that will simultaneously help reshore the production of critical components to protect America's economic and national security,' she added. Overall, Apple has made a $600 billion commitment to the U.S. over the next four years. Already, the phone and computer maker supports more than 450,000 jobs in the U.S., spanning all 50 states. Traditionally, Apple has produced its popular iPhone in China, but more recently has moved some of its production to India. During his trip to the Middle East in mid-May, Trump admonished Cook for the India move. 'I had a little problem with Tim Cook yesterday,' Trump said during an event in Doha, Qatar. 'I said to him: "Tim, you're my friend. You're coming here with $500 billion but now you're building all over India. I don't want you building in India,"' the president said. In the hours ahead of the Apple announcement, Trump signed an executive order imposing an additional 25 percent tariff on India after the country purchased Russian oil. The new tariff will go into effect in 21 days and will be on top of the 25 percent tariff already on Indian imports. When Trump originally announced his 'Liberation Day' tariffs on April 2, smartphones, chips and other tech products were exempt. It appears that policy continues to hold despite the additional round of tariff threats. No iPhones are currently made in the United States and experts have warned that doing so would increase the cost of the popular smartphones exponentially. The Chinese have mocked the idea of United States bringing back widespread manufacturing. In April, amid Trump's trade war with China, a number of Chinese AI videos went viral that showed overweight Americans working on assembly lines. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt blasted the videos saying that 'whoever made it clearly does not see the potential of the American worker, the American workforce.'
Daily Mail
3 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Minister contradicts terms of Labour's migrant returns deal
Labour's migrant returns deal with France has descended into farce as a minister appeared to contradict the terms of a new treaty. Cabinet minister Lisa Nandy said small boat migrants sent back under the deal would see their human rights claims heard after being sent back to France. However, it later emerged that some types of human rights cases would, in fact, block the Home Office from being able to remove migrants in the first place. Asked whether human rights challenges amounted to a loophole in the plan, Culture Secretary Ms Nandy said: 'That's not the case at all. 'The deal that we've struck will allow… us to send people back to France who have human rights claims. 'Those claims will be heard in France.' She told Sky News: 'I know that the Conservative Party has been saying that this is a loophole. It isn't and we're really confident about that.' However, the treaty clearly sets out how small boat migrants cannot be sent back to France if they have 'an outstanding human rights claim'. The Home Office confirmed some human rights claims will block migrants' removal until they have been concluded in full. It was a narrower interpretation of the circumstances than those set out by Ms Nandy, and legal proceedings could take months or even years to wrap up. The Mail has learned pro-migrant groups have begun informal discussions about launching a joint legal action against Labour's plan – just as they did against the Tories' Rwanda scheme. Sources said there had already been 'a certain amount of co-ordination' between charities and other groups, with details of the treaty still being analysed. The Free Movement website, which offers advice to immigration lawyers, has published an analysis of the new measures which says: 'Legal challenges will be more difficult than for Rwanda, however there are still likely to be grounds on which some people can resist removal to France. 'For example, if the inadmissibility decision was wrong, if people have family in the UK, or had experiences in France which make it inappropriate to send them back.' Meanwhile, the French interior ministry led by Bruno Retailleau - who signed the treaty alongside Home Secretary Yvette Cooper - declined to answer questions about the deal. Last month Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer pledged migrants would be 'detained and returned to France in short order' under the agreement. But earlier today – the first day it was in force – Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp posted videos from the Channel as he watched migrant boats bound for the UK coast, escorted by a French vessel. He said it showed the Anglo-French deal was a failure, adding that occupants of the boats were 'coming to a hotel near you soon'. 'On the very day Labour's flagship Channel deal was meant to kick in, I watched French ships escort illegal migrants straight into British waters,' Mr Philp said. 'Labour's migrant surrender deal with France is in shambles and today has proven that it will have no deterrent effect whatsoever.' It is unclear whether the Home Office had detained any of the new arrivals for possible removal to France. Officials had previously described how migrants would be taken to the Home Office's processing centre at Manston, near Ramsgate in Kent, for initial screening. Those selected would be sent to short-term detention facilities for further screening, and then on to an immigration removal centre.
