“China introduced a new cyber security law on June 1 that imposes tougher controls over data than in Europe and the United States, including mandating that companies store all data within China and pass security reviews,” Cate Cadell reports for Reuters. “Apple announced last year that it will migrate all user data from Chinese iCloud accounts to local servers run by Guizhou-Cloud Big Data Industry Co Ltd (GCBD), which is part of a state-backed infrastructure project overseen by local Communist Party officials.”
“The move is scheduled to happen on Feb. 28, and Apple this week notified users of the shift via emails linked to Chinese iCloud accounts,” Cadell reports. “However, despite earlier assurances by Apple that only local accounts will be affected, five Chinese users who had set up Apple iCloud accounts using U.S. emails, payment methods and addresses said they had received notices that they needed to opt into the transfer or risk losing their data. Their U.S. accounts did not contain any of their Chinese information, they said. ‘As far as they [Apple] know I‘m a U.S. resident with a U.S. address, phone, email and payment details,’ one user in Beijing surnamed Liu, 26, told Reuters. He declined to share his full name in case his secondary account is identified and closed. ‘How could they possibly judge that I‘m a Chinese citizen?'”
“It was not immediately clear how many users in all received these warnings from Apple or how the company identified the users to send the notices,” Cadell reports. “But thousands of users have taken to social media to criticize the firm and crowd source workaround solutions to the new rules, which don’t give users an opt-out option that would allow them to keep their data.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: From throwing hammers to kowtowing, 1984 is alive and well in 2018.
SEE ALSO:
How U.S. iCloud users can ensure their data isn’t migrated to state-owned servers in China – January 11, 2018
Apple sets date to turn over cloud operations to a state-owned data center in China – January 10, 2018
U.S. Senate Republican Marco Rubio hits Tim Cook for kowtowing to China – December 13, 2017
Apple CEO Cook kissed the ring in China because he had no choice – December 4, 2017
Apple CEO Cook in China: Internet must have security, humanity – December 4, 2017
U.S. Senators Ted Cruz and Patrick Leahy blast Apple CEO Tim Cook for removing VPN apps from App Store in China – October 20, 2017
Apple issues statement regarding removal of VPN apps from China App Store – July 31, 2017
Apple removes VPN apps from China App Store – July 29, 2017
Apple sets up China data center to meet new cybersecurity rules – July 12, 2017
Analyst: China iPhone sales are pivotal for Apple – June 26, 2017
In bid to improve censorship, China to summon Apple execs to discuss stricter App Store oversight – April 20, 2017
Will Apple CEO Tim Cook stand up to China over App Store censorship? – April 19, 2017
Beijing cyber regulators to summon Apple over live streaming apps – April 19, 2017
Apple goes on charm offensive in China with red iPhones and a visit by CEO Tim Cook – March 24, 2017
Apple CEO Tim Cook defends globalization, walks tightrope on privacy in rare public speech in China – March 18, 2017
Apple to spend $507 million to set up two more research centers, boost investment in in China – March 17, 2017
Harris Poll: Corporate reputations can become politically polarized – February 9, 2017
Apple removes New York Times apps from App Store in China at behest of Chinese government – January 4, 2017
China dethrones U.S. to become the largest market in the world for iOS App Store revenue – October 20, 2016
Apple to set up second R&D center in China – October 12, 2016
Apple’s first R&D Center in China will develop hardware, employ 500 – September 29, 2016
Apple CEO Cook ‘pretty confident’ of soon resuming movie and book sales in China – May 3, 2016
Apple’s biggest China problem: iPhone’s strong encryption – May 2, 2016
The New Yorker: What Apple has to fear from China – April 30, 2016
Carl Icahn out of Apple over worries about China’s ‘dictatorship’ government – April 29, 2016
China could slam door on Apple, says top global risk expert – April 25, 2016
China’s increasing censorship hits Apple, but Apple might punch back – April 22, 2016
China shutters Apple’s online book and movie services – April 22, 2016
Apple CEO Tim Cook joins Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights’ board of directors – April 6, 2016
From throwing hammers to kowtowing, 1984 is alive and well in 2018 and is available from the stars and skidmark hole of a terrorist nation in denial. Poor Apple they really need to look at establishing headquarters in a civilized and free part of the world.
It’s sick and sad to watch Apple, the once greatest creative company on the planet, turn into a tyranny and big brother surveillance enabler.
I’ve been ranting at Apple to get the hell out of China for over a decade. Here we go with the dire consequences of putting up with and sucking up to a criminal nation.
Actually, the entire world is going to figure out the stupidity of feeding the monster that is the China tyranny. All for the sake of cheap labor and cheap goods. Oops. A blunder that fundamentally wrecks the future. Have fun…
Spot on Derek, but I think that there is value for Apple to be in China, in fact I think that there is value for Apple to be in all nations, even it’s home country and you know I think China looks pretty good compared to their stars and skidmark hole home country.
We depart our thought processes at thinking China’s crime driven government looks pretty good next to the USA’s current, admitted demented, idiocracy. Watch your back at all times with China: Criminal Nation. Beats me why I’m insightful of their thought processes. I just know that I find them to be thoroughly predictable and what I see is a diabolical future ahead with regard to their behavior. But I rant.
There’s an aerie faerie phantasy that cooking some sort of capitalism into China is going to turn them aside from their totalitarian hell hole (as opposed to excrement hole) ambitions on the world. Nope! The more China is fed the more their master plan is fulfulled. Kind of obvious IMHO.
As for Apple, they’ve handcuffed themselves to China. I personally have no insight at all as to what that’s going to mean for the company except for the blatant bits where Apple compromises their ethics and folds to the totalitarian hell hole attitude of the Chinese monolithic government. I this respect, I have to bow with great respect to Google (which I rarely do) for simply pulling out of the hell hole.
But then there’s the Spirit of the Age, which of course we are helpless to change:
Short-Term Thinking; Long-Term Disaster
It’s what contemporary biznizz is all about. Get that bu¢k NOW using all means available. It’s why most companies have adopted the attitude of parasites with corresponding suffering on the part of their victims / customers. I call this Irresponsible Capitalism, the kind that not only gives ‘capitalism’ a bad name, but ends up destroying the system in favor of the totalitarian hell hole system brought about by dire ‘socialism’ (which is just another excuse for monolithic power control over the populace, as also found with dire ‘conservatism’. Surprise).
/lecture
I hope Brexit smartens up a bit on your island. The Parliament has now locked itself into the deal, good or bad, unless the House of Lords disagrees. I personally would have had the EU evolve into a saner institution rather than have the UK give up on them. But I’m not there and can only sense the situation from inside the echo chamber of the schizophrenic USA.
perhaps the Chinese govt. is smart.
imagine if USA companies build servers in China to keep data (like bank records , cloud accounts etc) because it’s cheaper or something and USA and China have a break in relations (worse case like war) …. what happens to the data?
perhaps i’m not clear: if those servers in China were built in China to keep the info of USA citizens (because it’s cheaper or something) and then there’s a USA/China break.
Just when you thought things couldn’t get worse.
…in comes Fred the Head.
This is why “the cloud” is bad, vendor managed devices are bad, and why an iPhone or iPad WILL NEVER be a PC.
nevertheless, the iCloud user case that is the subject of this article does need, and we in the community as well, need to understand how this was able to done: how apple was able to identify this user as a Chinese citizen and therefore despite his otherwise meeting all posted rules for his iCloud account being excluded was able to be swept up in this.
really.want.to.know.