A group of bipartisan U.S. lawmakers is urging the president of the U.K.’s Investigatory Powers Tribunal (IPT) to hold an open hearing for Apple’s challenge of an alleged secret legal demand from the U.K. government.
In a letter sent this week, U.S. Senator Ron Wyden, along with four other lawmakers, argued that the hearings regarding the alleged U.K. order should be public, as it serves the public interest. The lawmakers highlighted that the secretive nature of the order violates Apple’s free speech rights under U.S. law and limits the ability of Congress to conduct oversight.
The controversy revolves around a report from The Washington Post in February, which disclosed that the U.K. government had secretly instructed Apple to create a “backdoor” allowing authorities to access iCloud data of any Apple customer worldwide. Apple reportedly refused, instead pulling its Advanced Data Protection feature from U.K. customers to avoid complying with the order.
The IPT, which handles cases related to the U.K.’s surveillance powers, is scheduled to hear a private petition on Friday. While the specifics of the case haven’t been confirmed, Wyden’s letter suggests it pertains to Apple.
Apple declined to comment when contacted by TechCrunch. The U.K. government has also refused to confirm or deny the existence of such orders.
The exact number of companies receiving similar technical demands remains unclear. Google has reportedly told Wyden’s office that, if it had received such an order, it would be prohibited from disclosing that information.
Two civil rights organizations, Liberty and Privacy International, are also challenging the U.K.’s backdoor order through legal submissions to the IPT. Both groups, along with privacy rights organizations, have called for the hearing regarding Apple’s appeal to be open to the public.
