• Apple has overcome a request from UK government to keep its legal battle over iPhone data secret.
• The UK government wants to be able to access data stored on the iPhone's Advanced Data Protection system.
• Apple rolled back ADP from iPhones in the UK in February in response.

Apple has won its bid to stop a high-stakes legal battle with the UK government over its privacy-enhancing iPhone feature from being held in total secret.

The Investigatory Powers Tribunal rejected a request on Monday from the UK government to keep all the details of Apple's legal challenge private.

The iPhone maker has been battling demands from the UK's Home Office to create a back door to its cloud systems that hold private user data.

The ruling from the independent judicial body strikes a blow to the UK government, which first issued Apple with a "technical capability notice" in January. It cited the Investigatory Powers Act introduced in 2016 to justify access to encrypted user data.

The UK government fought to keep the battle with Apple behind closed doors, citing concerns that "it would be damaging to national security" if details around Apple's case were published, the ruling published on Monday by tribunal judges said.

The judges, however, rejected a request from the UK's Home Office for the case's "bare details" to be kept secret, citing "open justice" as a fundamental principle after several media organizations called for transparency.

"We do not accept the revelation of the bare details of the case would be damaging to the public interest or prejudicial to national security," the court said.

The ruling raises the stakes in a tense standoff between the world's most valuable company and the UK government.

Apple said in February it could no longer offer Advanced Data Protection (ADP) — its most sophisticated security system — to customers in the UK after receiving the request.

"We do not comment on legal proceedings," a Home Office spokesperson told Business Insider. "Nor do we comment on operational matters, including confirming or denying the existence of individual notices."

Apple did not immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment.

Rebecca Vincent, the interim director of Big Brother Watch, a British civil liberties and privacy campaigning organization, welcomed the tribunal's decision.

"The Home Office's order to break encryption represents a massive attack on the privacy rights of millions of British Apple users, which is a matter of significant public interest and must not be considered behind closed doors," Vincent said.

• Donald Trump's "Liberation Day" tariffs sparked a major sell-off in the iPhone maker on Thursday.
• Investors are spooked after Trump slapped heavy tariffs on its key supply chain hubs, such as China.
• It was Apple's biggest one-day drop in five years.

Apple has suffered its biggest one-day drop in five years after Donald Trump's "Liberation Day" tariffs sparked a roughly $300 billion sell-off among investors panicking over their potential impact on the world's most valuable company.

The iPhone maker suffered a roughly 9% drop at market close on Thursday as investors digested the impact of the president's tariff plans, which included a 54% effective tariff rate on China, the central hub for Apple's vast supply chain operations.

Trump slapped China with a 34% tariff in addition to an existing 20% tariff — a move that threatens to raise the cost of imports from Apple's most important manufacturing and assembly base.

Apple's yearslong efforts to diversify its supply chain away from China were also squashed by Trump's plans. Fast-growing hubs in Apple's supply chain, including India, Thailand, Malaysia, and Vietnam, were hit with tariffs well above Trump's 10% global baseline rate.

Though Apple secured an exemption from the tariffs Trump imposed in his first term, there are no signs yet that Apple will be able to secure a similar exemption this time. Apple's market capitalization fell to $3 trillion, wiping almost nine months of gains.

Trump's tariffs add further woes to Apple, which has faced a difficult few months as investor concerns over iPhone sales and future bets such as Apple Intelligence and the Vision Pro have weighed on its stock. Shares are down more than 16% year-to-date.

The tariff plans have raised concerns among analysts about the potential hit to consumer demand for iPhones, iPads, MacBooks, and other Apple products if the company decides to raise prices to counter the spiraling costs it would face from tariffs.

Srini Pajjuri, an analyst at investment bank Raymond James, wrote in a research note published Thursday that Apple would "need to raise US hardware prices by about 30%, all else equal," to fully offset the tariff impact on earnings per share.

If the company chooses not to raise prices, analysts forecast a significant hit to its profit margins, which have long been prized by investors.

Apple was not the only tech company whose shares took a hit on Thursday, with Nvidia down about 7.8% and Tesla down about 5.5%.

The Dow Jones Index closed down nearly 4%, while the S&P was down over 4.8%.

Apple did not immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment.