Apple Storing China iCloud Data On State-Owned Servers
Apple is storing data from its iPhone users in China on state-owned China Telecom servers, according to a Wall Street Journal report on Friday.
The Journal reports that it was part of the company’s “latest effort to dispel security concerns raised by China,” adding that Apple stressed the data is encrypted and not accessible by China Telecom.
According to a statement by Apple:
“Apple takes user security and privacy very seriously. We have added China Telecom to our list of data center providers to increase bandwidth and improve performance for our customers in mainland China.”
TUAW, an unofficial Apple news site, notes the Chinese market’s importance to the Cupertino, California-based Apple, but also pointed out how fast it has responded to previous controversies related to its business there:
“For instance, when a Chinese state-run TV station in early July labeled the iPhone a security threat, Apple quickly responded with a post on its Chinese website refuting such claims and assuring customers that Apple isn’t in cahoots with any government agencies to allow access to ostensibly protected devices via backdoors.”
A China Telecom statement said that the company had “become Apple’s only cloud service provider in China” following a 15-month long process of “stringent tests and evaluation.” The China Telecom site was not accessible at press time from within the United States.
The storage is for Apple’s iCloud service, intended to serve as a backup cloud-based storage solution accessible anywhere a user has an internet access and on all of a user’s Apple devices.
According to Cult of Mac, the move from Apple’s own servers to the China Telecom servers occurred on August 8 and “now the carrier is Apple’s only cloud service provider in China.”
Cult of Mac also says that the move was probably tied to concerns over how that data might be used and whether it could pose a national security threat, reporting that “Apple devices were labeled a ‘national security concern’ out of fear over the personal data Apple collects being used to spy on China.”
The shift signals a break from other American companies’ practices. According to ZDNet, rivals like Google and Microsoft have resisted storing any data on Chinese soil because of state censorship concerns as well as “past accusations of state-sponsored hacking and spying.”
China is a major market for Apple, with ZDNet reporting that the country “accounted for about 16 percent of the company’s global revenue.”
[Photo: MyRetailMedia]
