“Apple has emerged as a rare voice of reason in the war of words between China and the west over cyber security, with word that the global tech giant has decided to host some of its users’ personal data on Chinese-based computers,” Doug Young writes for Forbes.
“The US and China have taken steps to curb the use of hardware from each others’ companies in their domestic infrastructure over the past year, saying such equipment could make their systems vulnerable to spying,” Young reports. “Apple said it wasn’t concerned about security risks from using servers hosted in data centers owned by China Telecom, one of the country’s 3 state-owned carriers that control most of the domestic market for telecoms services. It cited its sophisticated encryption technology for its confidence, noting that such technology would protect its data even if someone managed to access China Telecom’s servers or intercept data as it traveled over domestic telecoms networks.”
“Apple’s move was a business decision, since the storage of user data on locally based computers that are geographically closer to its Chinese users will give them faster service,” Young writes. “But the move was also a smart public relations tactic by Apple, which has come under fire in China on a number of fronts over the past year for some of its local business practices.”
Much more in the full article here.
Related articles:
Apple starts storing user data on servers in China for first time – August 15, 2014
Chinese state-run media: Apple iPhone a danger to China national security – July 11, 2014
Setting up a Chinese region-specific iCloud domiciled on Chinese soil, in essentially an enclave just for Chinese customers, sounds like a great solution to hush up Chinese state security police who might be concerned about any “leakage out of device back doors” since data traffic never has to leave the country, and stays encrypted.
Proof yet again that Tim Cook ain’t no Steve Jobs.
I don’t understand. What do you mean?
By this I mean, with no slight to either of them, that Steve was prone to go ballistic (“mercurial”) and to feel that because he was Steve, he could take on and defeat the world. Tim does not strike me as that type of guy. While he *obviously* expects people to perform at the *highest* level, he *obviously* drives really hard and competes and produces, he also believes in the power of teams, he sees the benefit in developing cooperative relationships and partnerships, in finding a way through discussion and communication.
Steve was willing to “go nuclear” (ie. file suit after suit after suit). Tim is famously quoted as saying that law suits are a pain in the ass.
Steve like guys like Forstall, strong individuals with tremendous gifts commanding strong personal loyalties, perhaps because Steve and Scott were cut from the same cloth. Tim likes people who cooperate, who work as a team (there’s that word again).
Steve was the revolutionary, the pirate, blowing up bureaucracies. Tim is the incrementalists, the guy who commands huge organizations and gets them to do the incredible things that only large organizations can.
All major markets will have their own data centers. This is not a big deal. Relax, FUD-makers.