The U.K. government is reportedly continuing its efforts to gain access to encrypted iCloud data. According to reports, British officials have filed a new secret order demanding that Apple build a backdoor.
The British newspaper the Financial Times stated that the U.K. Home Office sent this order to Apple in September. The order requests that the technology company create a system to allow officials access to the encrypted cloud backups of British citizens.
Privacy activists have warned that complying with such a demand would be a mistake. They state that this action would negatively impact the privacy of users across the globe.
When contacted, a spokesperson for Apple, Julien Trosdorf, did not comment on the reported existence of a second order. The spokesperson did say the company was gravely disappointed that it cannot offer Advanced Data Protection to users in the country. Advanced Data Protection is an opt-in feature that allows users to make their iCloud backups end-to-end encrypted so that not even Apple can access the data.
A spokesperson for the U.K. Home Office did not respond to a request for comment.
This is the second time the U.K. government has sent Apple a technical capability notice. The first order was issued in January. At that time, the U.K. Home Office was seeking access to cloud-stored backups for any Apple user account worldwide that was protected by Advanced Data Protection.
That first order was made under the U.K.’s Investigatory Powers Act of 2016. This law is also known by critics as the Snoopers’ Charter. The order forced Apple to turn off the ability to enroll in Advanced Data Protection for new users in the U.K. The company also eventually had to disable the feature for existing users.
Apple stated at the time that it has never built a back door or master key to any of its products or services and never will.
The previous effort by the U.K. government apparently failed. The U.S. National Intelligence Director announced that the British government had dropped the request after negotiations with the Trump administration.
Apple reportedly challenged the initial legal demand in court. The court later ruled that the process should not be held in secret.
This story has been updated to include comment from Apple’s spokesperson.