The UK has been urged by U.S. lawmakers and privacy advocates to publicly air its hearing with Apple regarding its supposed technical capability notice for the creation of an iCloud encryption backdoor, The Register reports.
Widespread coverage on the alleged backdoor has already defeated the purpose of keeping the hearing a secret, said Sens. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Alex Padilla, D-Calif., as well as Reps. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., and Warren Davidson, R-Ohio, in a letter to UK Investigatory Powers Tribunal President Lord Justice Singh.
"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 UK's technical demands of Apple – and of any other US companies – be subjected to robust, public analysis and debate by cybersecurity experts," said the lawmakers.
Similar sentiments have also been expressed by the Open Rights Group, Index on Censorship, and Big Brother Watch in another letter to Singh.
