Apple Stores Customer Data In China
Apple has said that it has been storing Chinese customers' data inside data centres based in China in compliance with the orders of Chinese authorities to keep the personal data of its Chinese customers within the country’s borders.
The iPhone maker is building two new data centres in China to house the data, as the company seems to have reportedly ceded to the country’s law that requires all personal information and data collected in China, to not leave its borders.
Apple does claim that it has "never compromised the security" of either its customers or their data and is merely complying with Chinese law about the data storage of its nationals, as with the laws of all the countries in which it has a presence. However, China has long been accused of using technology to monitor its population and there are concerns that Apple user data may be easily accessible by the Chinese government.
"We retain control of the encryption keys for our users' data, and every new data centre we build affords us the opportunity to use Apple's most cutting-edge hardware and security technologies to protect those keys," Apple said in a statement. "In addition, we handle law enforcement requests in China through the appropriate legal process, just like we do everywhere else, and we regularly and transparently report the instances when we are compelled to provide user information."
In December 2020 Apple removed 46k apps from its China App Store, following a deadline set by the state.The majority were games, which require an official lisence to be available in the country and Apple employees were instructed to flag those apps that company management perceived would anger the Chinese government.
Topics on those apps that would get flagged under this policy would certainly include the exiled Tibetan Dalai Lama and exponents of independence for Taiwan, which China argues is a province of the nation. Some of the apps removed from the Chinese store related to gay dating services and foreign news organisations.
Washington Post: BBC: Techradar: Fortune: New York Times: Business Insider: Image: Unsplash
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