A ‘cloak of secrecy’ created by the UK in its encryption showdown with Apple must be removed, according to a cross-party group of politicians in America.
The group of Democrat and Republican senators and representatives has written to the Investigatory Powers Tribunal (IPT) ahead of a hearing in secret tomorrow.
It has been reported that this is the case in which Apple is appealing against a Home Office order to weaken its encryption.
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This order was made in the form of a Technical Capability Notice (TCN) under the Investigatory Powers Act 2016. The law prevents Apple from discussing even the existence of such an order.
Rather than comply with the order, it appears Apple pulled the relevant product from its service in the UK.
The group of American politicians say UK law has prevented Apple from telling the US Congress about the existence of any TCNs.
They wrote: “We write to request the Investigatory Powers Tribunal (IPT) remove the cloak of secrecy related to notices given to American technology companies by the United Kingdom, which infringes on free speech and privacy, undermines important United States Congress and UK parliamentary oversight, harms national security, and ultimately, undermines the special relationship between the United States and the United Kingdom.”
Sky News revealed earlier that UK politicians are calling for the tribunal to be held in public.
The letter from the US was signed by Democrat senators Ron Wyden, and Alex Padilla, as well as Republican representatives Andy Biggs and Warren Davidson, and Democrat representative Zoe Lofgren.
In the letter, it is mentioned that US director of national intelligence Tulsi Gabbard has called the UK’s actions “a clear and egregious violation of Americans’ privacy and civil liberties”, and that President Donald Trump raised it with Sir Keir Starmer and likened it to something the Chinese government would do.
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From an American angle, the crux of the letter is the block that UK law places on American companies responding to the US Congress.
The authors write: “By attempting to gag US companies and prohibit them from answering questions from Congress, the UK is both violating the free speech rights of US companies and impairing Congress’s power and duty to conduct oversight on matters of national security.
“The first amendment to the US Constitution guarantees Americans, including US companies, ‘the right to petition the government for redress of grievances’.
“This rule extends to communications with Congress and responses to Congressional oversight requests for information.”
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The letter says Apple and Google have both told Congress that if they had received a TCN, they would not be able to discuss it.
It goes on to state that, due to the “significant technical complexity of this issue” and the national security importance of encryption, “it is imperative that the UK’s technical demands of Apple – and of any other US companies – be subjected to robust, public analysis and debate by cybersecurity experts”.
The Ministry of Justice, of which the Investigatory Powers Tribunal is part, has been approached for comment.
