Apple has filed a new legal challenge against a U.K. government demand to access encrypted data held by British customers, escalating a dispute that previously drew intervention from senior U.S. officials including President Trump and Vice President Vance.
Apple has filed a new legal challenge against the U.K. government's attempt to compel access to encrypted data held by British customers, renewing a dispute that has drawn in senior U.S. officials and raised questions about the reach of British surveillance law.
Apple confirmed the filing to CNBC but declined to comment further on the proceedings.
The move follows a previous clash that began in early 2025, when Britain's Home Office — the government department responsible for immigration and security — issued an order requiring Apple to build a technical backdoor enabling officials to view fully encrypted material stored in its cloud software.
That earlier order was broader in scope, covering data belonging to both British and American users. Former U.S. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said last August that the U.K. had dropped the request after interventions from President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance.
The Home Office followed up in September with a narrower demand, seeking access specifically to British citizens' encrypted data, according to the Financial Times.
The Home Office said it does not comment on legal proceedings or operational matters, including confirming or denying the existence of individual notices. A spokesperson offered a broader statement defending the government's legal framework.
"The U.K. 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 spokesperson told CNBC. "The Investigatory Powers Act is world-leading legislation that helps keep people safe while protecting privacy through strong safeguards and independent judicial oversight."
Apple disabled its Advanced Data Protection feature — which provides end-to-end encryption for iCloud data — for new U.K. users following the initial 2025 demand. The company said at the time that existing U.K. users would eventually be required to disable the feature as well.
"We are gravely disappointed that the protections provided by ADP are not available to our customers in the UK given the continuing rise of data breaches and other threats to customer privacy," Apple said in a September statement. "As we have said many times before, we have never built a backdoor or master key to any of our products or services and we never will."
Legal observers note that narrowing the demand to British users may reduce the diplomatic friction that accompanied the earlier order, but may not fully resolve U.S. concerns.
"The original demand caused a transatlantic row because it extended to American users," Andrew Fremlin-Key, a partner at law firm Withers specializing in media, reputation, and information disputes, told CNBC. "Restricting the new notice to British users may reduce that conflict, but it is unlikely to eliminate U.S. concerns about a foreign government requiring an American company to weaken the security of its technology."
The case now moves through the U.K.'s legal process at a moment when encryption policy is under scrutiny across multiple jurisdictions, signaling that the tension between national security access and end-to-end encryption protections is far from resolved.
TechEchelon Staff bylines are produced collectively by the newsroom for short, breaking, and wire-style coverage. Longer-form reporting is published under the responsible reporter's name.
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