Apple has won a legal battle against the UK government’s attempt to keep parts of its appeal secret.
The case centers on a controversial order that would require Apple to create a “backdoor” into iPhones — essentially a way for authorities to access encrypted user data.
On Monday, the U.K.’s Investigatory Powers Tribunal dismissed the government’s effort to keep details of Apple’s legal appeal secret.
The government had argued that revealing this information could threaten national security.
However, the tribunal ruled in favour of transparency, allowing key parts of the hearing to be made public.
Judges Rabinder Singh and Jeremy Johnson, in their ruling, stated that the U.K. government’s bid to keep the hearing details private “would be the most fundamental interference with the principle of open justice.”
“It would have been a truly extraordinary step to conduct a hearing entirely in secret without any public revelation of the fact that a hearing was taking place,” they said.
Britain’s Home Office is yet commented on the ruling.
Apple is contesting a directive from the U.K. government that mandates the creation of a “backdoor” to access encrypted data stored by iPhone users.
This backdoor would enable officials to access information protected by Apple’s Advanced Data Protection system, which offers end-to-end encryption for various iCloud data, including photos, notes, and device backups.
Governments in the U.S., U.K., and EU have long expressed concerns that end-to-end encryption enables criminals, terrorists, and sex offenders to conceal illicit activities.
They argue that such encryption prevents law enforcement agencies from accessing vital communications during investigations.
