A London court hearing, reported to be Apple's appeal against a British government order to create a "back door" to its encrypted cloud storage systems, was held in secret on Friday, with media not allowed to attend despite a formal request.

The BBC - along with civil liberties groups and some US politicians - argue the case should be heard in public.

U.S. Senator Ron Wyden, along with four other federal lawmakers, said in a letter this week to the president of the U.K.’s Investigatory Powers Tribunal (IPT) that it is “in the public interest” that any hearings about the alleged order are not held in secret.

UK rights groups have asked a British court to open a hearing Friday on Apple’s bid to avoid building spy capability into its encrypted cloud storage.