Apple has filed a new legal challenge against the UK government over an order requiring access to encrypted cloud backups belonging to British users.
The complaint follows the government’s decision last year to withdraw a broader demand that could have affected customers in both the UK and the United States.
According to an exclusive Financial Times report, Apple submitted the complaint to the UK’s Investigatory Powers Tribunal in July 2026. The filing became known through a court order notifying Privacy International, a digital rights organization already challenging the government’s use of similar surveillance powers alongside the civil liberties group Liberty.
The dispute concerns a Technical Capability Notice, or TCN, reportedly issued by the UK Home Office during the second half of 2025. Unlike an earlier order that sought access to encrypted information held by users worldwide, the revised notice is understood to apply only to data belonging to customers in the UK.
Apple operates one of the world’s largest consumer technology ecosystems, providing iPhones, computers, messaging services, and cloud storage to hundreds of millions of users. Its Advanced Data Protection feature extends end-to-end encryption to additional categories of iCloud information, including device backups, photos, notes, and messages stored in the cloud.
When end-to-end encryption is enabled, encryption keys remain under the user’s control, preventing Apple from accessing the protected content. Complying with a demand to retrieve that information would therefore require Apple to alter its systems, weaken the encryption model, or introduce another mechanism capable of bypassing it.
The UK government issues TCNs under the Investigatory Powers Act. These legally binding notices can require telecommunications and technology providers to maintain capabilities that assist intelligence agencies and law enforcement investigations.
Officials argue that the powers are necessary for cases involving terrorism, child sexual abuse, and other serious crimes. The Home Office has previously said the law includes safeguards and that requests are made only when necessary and proportionate.
Apple has consistently maintained that any exceptional-access system would create risks beyond its intended government use. A mechanism designed to bypass encryption could become a target for cybercriminals, hostile governments, insiders, or other attackers seeking access to sensitive customer information.
The latest complaint is separate from Apple’s earlier challenge to the UK’s original global TCN. That order triggered objections from US officials because it could have enabled British authorities to obtain encrypted data belonging to American citizens. The UK later withdrew the broader demand, but subsequently issued the more narrowly focused notice covering British users.
Apple removed Advanced Data Protection from its UK offerings in February 2025 rather than modify the feature to provide government access. Existing and new UK customers have consequently been unable to use Apple’s strongest level of cloud-backup encryption.
Both Apple and the Home Office face legal restrictions on publicly discussing TCNs, and Apple did not comment on the new filing.
UK users concerned about cloud privacy should review what information is included in their iCloud backups, remove unnecessary sensitive data, enable strong device passcodes and multi-factor authentication, and consider independently encrypted storage for highly confidential files.
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