Apple is now storing Chinese iCloud user data in China

Apple is now starting to store Chinese user data on China Telecom servers, according to a post on the Fuzhou city government’s website.

The iPhone maker says keeping Chinese iCloud data on Chinese soil will help give users faster access to their information. iCloud stores backups of information on all Apple devices, iTunes, as well as the company’s photo and office software.

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“We have added China Telecom to our list of data center providers to increase bandwidth and improve performance for our customers in mainland China,” the company said in a statement to the Wall Street Journal.

China has been coming down hard on American companies operating in China recently over security and antitrust concerns. Microsoft is one such company. The software giant is currently being probed for possible anti-competitive behavior. Anti-virus software firm Symantec was also recently pulled from one of China’s government procurement lists.

Apple is no stranger to China’s vigorous oversight. Just last month, the country cited Apple’s mobile iOS as a security threat for its “Frequent Locations” function, which keeps track of places a user visits often.

Considering that Apple’s continued success in the Chinese market is helping to keep quarterly revenues rising, the company has every reason to keep the Chinese government happy. Storing user data with China Telecom could be beneficial for the state, which is known for keeping an eye on its citizens.

But Apple insists that the state won’t have access to user data. All stored data is encrypted, and Apple will keep encryption keys in the U.S.

However, it seems unlikely that Apple would refuse if the Chinese government were to legally request a user’s files.

Via: The Next Web.