During a hearing at the Investigatory Powers Tribunal (IPT) in London, Apple openly challenged the UK government’s “neither confirm nor deny” stance concerning orders for accessing encrypted data. The tech giant contended that this approach contravenes the principle of open justice, which is a cornerstone of a fair legal system. The controversy stems from the UK government’s insistence that Apple develop a backdoor mechanism to access encrypted data stored on iCloud.

In February 2025, Apple took a decisive step by eliminating the “Advanced Data Protection” feature for iCloud users in the UK, signaling its refusal to comply with such demands. The following April, a judge dismissed the UK’s bid to keep the proceedings secret. Subsequently, the UK government withdrew its request for data pertaining to U.S. users and issued a fresh notice, this time targeting UK users exclusively. This move prompted Apple to launch a second round of legal action.

The crux of the hearing centered on the confidentiality surrounding these orders. The UK government maintained that any deviation from its established policy could jeopardize national security. The IPT has yet to render a decision on the policy’s validity and has indicated that a comprehensive hearing regarding the technical capability notice may not occur until the coming year.