Apple filed a second complaint with the UK's Investigatory Powers Tribunal in July. It challenges the demand to grant access to encrypted cloud backups of British users. The move only became public through a court order.
The dispute has been ongoing since February 2025, when the British government secretly requested access to encrypted iCloud data from Apple. Since then, the order has been amended twice, Apple has filed a lawsuit, and the company has disabled a security feature in the UK. The Financial Times is now reporting on a new legal challenge filed in July.
Key Facts at a Glance
- Apple filed a second complaint with the Investigatory Powers Tribunal in July 2026.
- It is directed against the demand for access to encrypted cloud backups of British users.
- The move was not made public by Apple, but by a court order.
- Extended data protection can still be activated without restrictions in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.
- Apple continues to state that it has never built a backdoor or master key and will not do so.
What Apple has now submitted
The new complaint has been pending before the Investigatory Powers Tribunal, the UK's special court for surveillance matters, since July. It concerns an order requiring Apple to grant the government access to encrypted cloud backups of British users.
Technically, this boils down to a fundamental question. With enhanced data protection, the keys reside exclusively on users' devices, not with Apple. Releasing them would only be possible if the company redesigned or deliberately weakened the service – access to existing data is impossible in the current architecture.
The way the case came to light is remarkable. Neither Apple nor the government announced it; it was revealed through a court order. The same pattern characterized the first round, in which a court overturned the confidentiality of the proceedings.
A year and a half of conflict: an overview
The conflict has changed direction several times. Anyone reading only the current report sees a second lawsuit – in fact, it is the second lawsuit against what is already the second version of the order.
| Time | Development |
|---|---|
| February 2025 | Secret order to Apple to allow worldwide access to data with enhanced privacy protection |
| February 2025 | Apple is disabling the feature for users in the UK |
| March 2025 | First complaint filed with the Investigatory Powers Tribunal |
| August 2025 | Following US pressure, the requirement for American users is dropped. |
| October 2025 | Replacement by an arrangement targeting British users |
| July 2026 | Second appeal to the Tribunal |
The decisive turning point came with the withdrawal of US users in August 2025. What initially appeared to be a concession turned out to be a narrowing of the scope a few weeks later: the demand returned in a new form, this time limited to British users. At the beginning of 2026, US authorities demanded clarification from London on this matter.
Apple received support not only from Washington. WhatsApp also sided with the company in the proceedings, because a ruling against Apple would affect the very foundation of all end-to-end encryption.
What this means for users in this country
The short answer: nothing immediately. Since October 2025, the regulation applies exclusively to British users. In Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, Extended Privacy for iCloud can still be activated unchanged – unlike in the UK, where Apple disabled the feature for new users in February 2025.
If you haven't enabled this feature yet, that's the practical point of this notification. Without it, iCloud backups, photos, and notes exist in a format that Apple can technically access—and that's precisely what government orders usually aim for.
Why the case extends beyond Great Britain
The real issue is not the scope of the order, but its feasibility. As soon as a court determines that a provider can be compelled to retroactively decrypt end-to-end encryption, a precedent exists – and this can be cited in any legal system attempting something similar.
That this is not an isolated case is demonstrated by the situation in North America: In May 2026, Apple warned against a proposed law in Canada that aims in the same direction. For Apple, the British dispute is therefore less a market problem than a fundamental question about its own security promise.
The timeframe remains unclear. Proceedings before the Investigatory Powers Tribunal are largely closed to the public, and the first round alone took over a year to produce any tangible progress. Reliable news is likely to emerge once again from court orders rather than from statements made by the parties involved. (Image: Apple / Apfelpatient)
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