Apple fights UK government over iCloud backdoor as tribunal rejects secret hearing

What just happened? It has been confirmed that Apple is taking its battle with the UK government over demands that it weakens its encryption protocols to court. Cupertino secured an early win when the UK Investigatory Powers Tribunal dismissed an attempt to have details of the case kept private. The UK government demanded that Apple create a backdoor in its iCloud services earlier this year following years of pressure. In January, Apple received a technical capability notice (TCN) under the Investigatory Powers Act of 2016, commonly referred to as the Snoopers' Charter, requiring it to bypass or weaken its encryption for iCloud users. Rather than risking compromising the security of its users globally, the company decided the best course of action was to remove its Advanced Data Protection (ADP) option for new UK users – existing ADP users will have to disable the feature manually during a grace period. ADP offers end-to-end encryption for a range of iCloud data. It ensures iCloud ... Read full article.