LONDON, March 14 (Reuters) - A London court hearing,

reported to be Apple's ( AAPL ) 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.

In February, The Washington Post reported that Britain had

issued a "technical capability notice" to the tech firm to

enable access to encrypted messages and photos, even for users

outside the country.

The iPhone maker in response removed its most advanced

security encryption for cloud data, called Advanced Data

Protection, for new users in Britain.

Details of the case have been shrouded in secrecy, and

neither Apple ( AAPL ) nor the British government has publicly

confirmed the technical capability notice.

The BBC reported a hearing on Friday simply listed as "an

application in private" at the Investigatory Powers Tribunal, a

court that considers allegations of unlawful intrusion by public

bodies, was Apple's ( AAPL ) appeal against this order.

There was no confirmation of what parties were involved,

although James Eadie, who represents the government in its most

serious legal cases, attended. He declined to comment. Apple ( AAPL ) did

not immediately respond to a request for comment.

A lawyer representing 10 media organisations, including

Reuters and the BBC, submitted an application to the tribunal

for the case to be held in public.

The court confirmed receipt of his email but he was not

invited to appear before the judges to make any further

submissions on Friday, and no reporters were allowed in the

courtroom. The hearing concluded after about six hours.

'UNACCEPTABLE AND DISPROPORTIONATE'

Two civil rights groups, Privacy International and Liberty,

have also challenged the secrecy of the case and the issuing of

the technical capability notice itself. Caroline Wilson Palow,

Legal Director at Privacy International, said it was

"unacceptable and disproportionate".

"People the world over rely on end-to-end encryption to

protect themselves from harassment and oppression," she said.

"No country should have the power to undermine that protection

for everyone."

Governments and tech giants have long been locked in a

battle over strong encryption to protect consumers'

communications, which the authorities believe can be an obstacle

to investigations into crimes from terrorism to child sex

offences.

But Britain's demands are seen as particularly sweeping.

"We told them you can't do this," U.S. President Donald

Trump told the Spectator magazine in an interview last month

about the British demand. "That's something ... that you hear

about in China."

U.S. officials are also investigating whether Britain

violated a bilateral pact by pressuring Apple ( AAPL ) as the move could

breach the CLOUD Act, which bars Britain from issuing demands

for the data of U.S. citizens and vice versa.

Britain's Home Office (interior ministry) has declined to

comment on the case, and Security Minister Dan Jarvis told

parliament last month the government operated a policy of

neither confirming nor denying the existence of TCNs.

"What I can say is that the suggestion that privacy and

security are at odds is not correct; we can and must have both,"

he said.