Roger Fingas
As planned, Apple on Wednesday transferred control of its Chinese iCloud data to a local firm, Guizhou-Cloud Big Data. The move is necessary to comply with local laws, but has drawn criticism for exposing customers to the authoritarian Chinese government.
The migration meets requirements that tech companies operating in the mainland also host relevant personal data there. Individual accounts will only be transferred once a person agrees to updated terms of service, Apple explained to Reuters.
GCBD has close ties to the Chinese government, which could make it comparatively simple for the government to spy on regional Apple customers and/or seize their data. In fact Reporters Without Borders has urged journalists to move any iCloud accounts out of the country, given the risks to them and their sources.
The one upside of the transfer is that Apple has promised more "speed and reliability" for Chinese willing to continue using iCloud.
The company and its CEO, Tim Cook, have sometimes been accused of placing market access over human rights concerns in China. Cook is not only making another appearance at the government-backed China Development Forum this year, but co-chairing it.
Users of Apple's iCloud in countries other than China are at no risk from the transfer.
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21 Comments
Everyone interesed in the subject should take 13 minutes and listen to Rene Ritchie on this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R91HOgtNkIc
Just be glad you do not live in China, ops forgot our own government spy on it own people as well.
I don't support Chinese protectionist policies but if one is concerned about "exposing customers to the authoritarian Chinese government", have you forgot that the majority of iPhones are made in China?
So what happens if you visit China or go to school in China or are sent there for a season for business?
Does Apple keep your stuff outside PRC or do they transfer it to the servers in country?
The inverse is also a good question:
If a Chinese citizen lives overseas for school or work, does their iCloud data stay in China?
This is all assuming that life cannot exist without Cloud storage of our data. How did we ever make it to the 21st century without the ability to store our data somewhere other than on our own computers. /s. If you don't want your government to have access to your data, then don't put it in the Cloud. But we all know no one is looking for a simple solution, just drama.