UK maintains secret demand for global iCloud access, filings show

The UK Home Office has not withdrawn a secret demand for Apple to build a backdoor into its cloud services, court filings published this week show, contradicting recent US claims that the British government had abandoned the effort. The new legal documents, filed with the Investigatory Powers Tribunal, an independent court that reviews complaints about UK surveillance, indicate the Home Office sought broad technical capabilities to access a range of iCloud data and that the order still stands as Apple prepares a legal challenge set for early next year.

The filings say the Home Office technical capability notice is not limited to Apple’s Advanced Data Protection feature and requires Apple to "provide and maintain a capability to disclose categories of data stored within a cloud based backup service." The document adds that the obligations "are not limited to the UK or users of the service in the UK they apply globally in respect of the relevant data categories of all iCloud users," language that, if enforced, would reach data belonging to users worldwide.

Apple removed its Advanced Data Protection option for UK customers in February after disclosing it had received a secret order...