US Lawmakers Back Apple in UK iCloud Backdoor Case, Demand Greater Transparency
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A bipartisan group of US lawmakers are defending Apple over the UK government’s secret demands to gain backdoor access to users’ encrypted iCloud data, demanding that the UK raise the curtain of secrecy surrounding the order.
Apple is currently fighting the United Kingdom’s government over the privacy of encrypted iCloud data. A secret hearing by the Investigatory Powers Tribunal (IPT) is scheduled on Friday to consider an appeal. Unfortunately for interested observers like us, the closed-door hearing at the High Court will not be made public, and US lawmakers are not happy about that.
A bipartisan letter from the US Congress to the President of the Investigatory Powers Tribunal was published on Thursday, demanding that the IPT, “remove the cloak of secrecy related to notices given to American technology companies by the United Kingdom.
“Given the significant technical complexity of this issue, as well as the important national security harms that will result from weakening cybersecurity defenses, it is imperative that the U.K.’s technical demands of Apple— and of any other U.S. companies — be subjected to robust, public analysis and debate by cybersecurity experts,” the members wrote. “Secret court hearings featuring intelligence agencies and a handful of individuals approved by them do not enable robust challenges on highly technical matters.”
The letter asserts that the secrecy of the process is an infringement on free speech and privacy, circumvents governmental oversight, is harmful to national security, and “undermines the special relationship between the United States and the United Kingdom.”
In February, reports revealed that the British government had ordered Apple to provide backdoor access to all user content uploaded to iCloud by users from around the globe. The demand led to Apple turning off Advanced Data Protection in iCloud for all users based in the UK and filing a legal complaint with the IPT in early March.
The order required Apple to provide backdoor access that would allow UK security officials to access encrypted user data not just from its own citizens, but worldwide. Such a demand from a “free” country is unprecedented.
The spying order was included in a “technical capability notice” document the UK Home Secretary sent to Apple in January. The document ordered the firm to provide unfettered access to the encrypted data under the wide-ranging UK Investigatory Powers Act (IPA) of 2016, labeled by several critics as the “Snooper’s Charter,” as the act allows law enforcement to require assistance from firms when in search of evidence.
Despite now being an open secret around the globe, the UK’s IPT hearing is to be held before a closed tribunal on Friday. This makes “any argument for a closed hearing on this very existence unsustainable,” the letter states.
“It is in the public interest for there to be open hearings about the extent to which important communications services have been deliberately compromised to make them less secure.”
The letter goes on to say that the UK’s demand for backdoor access raises serious concerns about national security, warranting public debate. The Director of National Intelligence said the UK’s demand would be a “clear and egregious violation of Americans’ privacy and civil liberties, and open up a serious vulnerability for cyber exploitation by adversarial actors.”
The attempted gag order has “already restricted U.S. companies from engaging in speech that is constitutionally protected under U.S. law and necessary for ongoing Congressional oversight,” the letter reads.
Had Apple received a technical capabilities notice, UK law would not allow it to tell Congress about the notice. Google has also told Congress that it would be placed in a similar position if it had received the same notice.
The letter went on to discuss how encryption backdoors can be exploited by hackers, saying, “such systems create grave vulnerabilities which can be exploited by hostile foreign government hackers.”
“It is imperative that the U.K.’s technical demands of Apple — and of any other U.S. companies – be subjected to robust, public analysis and debate by cybersecurity experts,” the letter urged.
The letter claims that due to the potential impact on US security, it is “vital that American cybersecurity experts be permitted to analyze and comment on the security of what is proposed.”
The letter is signed by Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR), Senator Alex Padilla (D-CA), Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ), Rep. Warren Davidson (R-OH), and Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA).
