Apple details user data it’s storing in Russia

“Apple Inc. detailed the user data it’s storing in Russia to comply with a local law that took effect in 2015, according to a recent filing with the Russian government,” Mark Gurman and Elena Popina report for Bloomberg. “Apple users in the region have data including their name, delivery address, email address and phone number stored on servers in Russia. The company said it collects that information for customer service and to send users information on new products, according to the filing.”

“The filing doesn’t mention more personal data such as messages, documents, photos, and contacts that are often saved on Apple’s iCloud service,” Gurman and Popina report. “However, it does say that Apple stores more information about its Russian employees in the country. Details include: workers’ Russian passport numbers along with place and time of issuance; permanent and temporary addresses; history of work evaluations; and information about income, according to the filing.”

MacDailyNews Take: As one would logically expect.

“Apple agreed to put some information into a server warehouse in Russia that’s operated by IXcellerate, Russian publication Kommersant reported in 2015,” Gurman and Popina report. “Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook has said that the company must comply with these types of national laws, while stressing that the data is encrypted using Apple technology. ‘We have servers located in many different countries in the world,’ he told Vice News in an October interview. ‘They are not easier to get data from being in one country versus the next. The key question is how does the encryption process work and who owns the keys if anyone? In most cases for us, you and the receiver own the keys.'”

Read more in the full article here.

MacDailyNews Take: Again, it’s a can of worms. Not every country offers the same rights, privacy protections, or has the same laws as others.

We follow the law wherever we do business. — Apple CEO Tim Cook, August 1, 2017

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