Back in February this year, news got out that the UK government wanted a backdoor into Apple"s encrypted iCloud services. This order demanded access to customer data from the whole world. Apple responded by disabling its "Advanced Data Protection" feature in the UK, issuing a statement saying "we have never built a backdoor or master key to any of our products or services and we never will."
Now, more details have emerged from a court filing (seen by the Financial Times) that suggest the government"s demand was even more expansive than initially thought.
According to FT, it is clear that the Home Office"s technical capability notice was not limited to that optional, extra-secure Advanced Data Protection feature. The government also sought access to standard iCloud services, which the vast majority of Apple"s customers use daily.
The filing, published by the Investigatory Powers Tribunal (IPT), states the order included "obligations to provide and maintain a capability to disclose categories of data stored within a cloud-based backup service".
Since the dispute kicked off in February, a lot of things have happened behind the scenes. The United States government voiced "grave concerns" that a British law could be used to snoop on Americans" data, a sentiment reportedly shared by both Vice President JD Vance and President Donald Trump.
Things got interesting last week when the US Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, announced that the UK had agreed to drop its demand. But this new IPT filing indicates the Home Office has not yet legally modified or rescinded the order, leaving its global reach intact.
Because the UK government refuses to confirm or deny the order"s existence, the IPT is forced to hear Apple"s legal challenge based on "assumed facts" to prevent anyone from violating the Official Secrets Act.
The entire case will be argued in open court in early 2026.