Slashdot Mirror
Apple Begins Storing Chinese User Data On Servers In China
An anonymous reader writes Reuters reported on Friday that Apple "has begun keeping the personal data of some Chinese users on servers in mainland China." Apple has claimed that the move is meant "to improve the speed and reliability of its iCloud service", but given China's track record with censorship and privacy, the explanation rings hollow for some skeptics. Nevertheless, Apple assures its Chinese users that their personal data on China Telecom is encrypted and that the encryption keys will be stored offshore. Only time will tell if Apple will be able to resist Chinese government requests to access its China-based servers.
They're storing mainland customer data on mainland servers. I don't see the problem with this - if the Chinese gov't wants data, they have SO many means at their disposal to capture it regardless of whether it's stored on a domestic server, or external. This is a good move, imo, as storing data in any country other than China would mean heavy latency passing through the GFW and having it likely captured elsewhere anyways.
bUT Why? That's, like, not cloudy enough, bro!!
Nevertheless, Apple assures its Chinese users that their personal data on China Telecom is encrypted and that the encryption keys will be stored offshore
This is pure marketing bullshit. How are they going to make the data available to their users if the keys are stored offshore? What use does encryption have if they have the keys and need to be able to decrypt the data on the fly, i.e. everyone with access to their servers can also decrypt the data?
The only secure way is to design the system such that the servers just see ciphertext coming in and going out. Everything else is not secure, especially if governments are involved. The Lavabit case should have made that clear once and for all even for non-experts.
[...] but given China's track record with censorship and privacy, the explanation rings hollow for some skeptics.[...]
Given the United State's track record, I think the skeptics should worry about data collection at home too.
Why always focus on China when it comes to human rights and privacy issues? Just look at your own navel for a change...
"A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of" - Ogden Nash
You do what China tells you to do. 1 billion plus population...that's a lot of iThings
Nevertheless, Apple assures its Chinese users that their personal data on China Telecom is encrypted and that the encryption keys will be stored offshore.
So the keys are only stored back at the headquarter in the USA?
The place where a "judge" can order any company to deliver the customer's data to the state?
Data of users who may not be citizens of the USA and even data that is stored on foreign soil.
Everyone who buys Wild Hunt will receive 16 specially prepared DLCs absolutely for free, regardless of platform.
If traffic doesn't cross borders to the USA, the USA can't spy on it.
It does not matter if they store the keys up at the Apple CEO's butt...
If they place the servers on Chinese physical land, then it is under Chinese jurisdiction, and the Chinese government can use their normal legal interception laws to get any data they want.
If they do not comply they confiscate the servers and start issuing large fines on Apple.
The only difference between "normal" US/UK/DE or whatever western world is that the Chinese has a much broader idea on what can be illegal.
So i would not trust that data store for 1second.
I think its clear Apple is simply looking at their bottom line and maybe also considering storage by region to some extent. I don't think people realize how much this is already being done without much public fanfare. Google certainly has server farms all over the World and Microsoft too. As well as many companies you probably do business with. Given the whole NSA situation in the States. Does finding out that my information is stored possibly in China make me feel any worse? Hardly. My own Country sifts through my data and I have no doubt China could do the same no matter where my data is stored.
Sure, Chinese should NSA servers instead.
Seems reasonable to me. Actually reduced the needed data transport. The great firewall is in place for the data transfers to the outside world. I am sure the cn gvmnt has to possibility to targeted intercept, as has the america, german, russian or british governments.
Given what we learned in the recent years, placing data and encyption keys in two different legislations (chinese and america) is the most straighforward way to protect against legal interception.
Ah, what's in a name...
So the Chinese government will pay off employees to provide access. Just like the US government does. It's not an official channel so the company doesn't even know about it and can't be blamed for it.
"the encryption keys will be stored off-shore" is different from "the encryption keys will be stored off-shore for ever"
"Only time will tell if Apple will be able to resist Chinese government requests to access its China-based servers." -> like they resisted the US government? ha!
Option 1: Store the Chinese data in China. The Chinese government owns all their bits.
Option 2: Store the Chinese data in the US and route it through China. The Chinese government owns all their bits. And so does the US.
It's pure marketing, of course. If they were really interested in security, they'd store only encrypted data without the key. But then it wouldn't be searchable, and a bunch of idiots would forget their encryption key and be angry because there'd be no magic recovery system.
Don't waste your vote! Vote for whoever you want, unless you live in a swing state it won't matter anyways
China already builds spyworthy Cisco networking gear, why would they have to ask Apple for access?
Remember kids, if you're not paying for the service, YOU ARE THE PRODUCT THAT IS BEING SOLD.
Parent A/C is right.
This is entirely about marketshare. Apple decided its market in China was worth making it really easy for China to take Apple's data and use it against people. It's an understandable business decision. You know, like when the Pope didn't denounce Hitler.
Can they store my data on Chinese servers too, please, and avoid the US altogether?
I'd rather take open censorship, than silent spying and (probably) malware injection.
I am a Chinese who studies China for a living, and it is becoming more and more apparent to many people, that the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) knows it is on its last straw of survival.
The party is facing severe and increasing systematic stress on all fronts:
1. Increasing external oppositions from all other countries in the world, forming more and more alliances and becoming more outspoken with rising strengths against China, as well as increasing anti-China sentiment from people in all other countries.
2. Increasing internal severe and massive violent social unrest and anti-CCP mutiny from people of all Chinese living places e.g. mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Xinjiang, Tibet, Macau etc. To suppress internal dissent, the CCP every year is forced to spend even more money than on its massive military budget.
3. Fierce and unstoppable purges and mutually-destructive infighting among different factions within the party, who are imprisoning and killing each other every day. This power grab goes on under the thin guise of "anti-corruption drive" when everyone knows all officials in china are corrupted.
4. Its own economy never able to develop to higher level beyond mass skill-less manufacturing, due to complete absence of law and common morals. This is a death knock to the "growth-based legitimacy" of the CCP, which is the only thing CCP can rely on for continuing ruling power. The CCP is on its last resort of printing literally trillions of worthless renminbi to dump into the economy, causing way more long-term harm than short-term help, and when that is over there is nothing else the CCP can do to prop up the failing economy.
4. China's mass skill-less manufacturing itself is going away due to increasing costs and openly hostile and unfair business environment full of frauds and government robberies. This is worsened by the rise of robotic automatic manufacturing and 3D printing.
5. Its many suppressed fatal problems have all grown too big to be contained all breaking out at the same time e.g.
- severe carcinogenic poisonous pollution everywhere in air and water and soil and their own food etc
- skyrocketing unrepayable bad debts of all kinds everywhere, its true scope unknown because all data from China are faked
- biggest housing bubble in human history, in addition to innumerous crumbling ghost cities and shoddily-built infrastructure that cannot and will not be used
- rapidly aging and gender-lopsided demographics (from one child policy, culture of "leftover women", and all Chinese families killing their own daughters so as to chase boys)
- world's no.1 wealth inequality, with a Gini coefficient rivalling 18th century France just before the French revolution
- complete absence of soft power and cultural/social influence
- all Chinese chasing foreign-brand goods and services while ditching low-quality poisonous Chinese-brands, dashing CCP's hope to build domestic consumption economy
- corruptions and fraud throughout the whole rotten core of a system
- desperate mass exodus in all levels of Chinese society to escape the country, by all able Chinese with talents and money going elsewhere
- the law of large numbers and the "middle-income trap" all work against the "growth-based legitimacy" CCP desperately needs for its survival
Most importantly, the CCP knows that if 1.3 billion Chinese learn about basic morals, truth, fairness, human rights, rule of law, freedom, universal values etc the CCP will be toppled very quickly. Therefore its brainwashing education and propaganda machine ensure a complete lack of morals and regard for laws in all Chinese.
This results in failure in all basic aspects of human interactions with every modern Chinese, whether it is business trading / personal dealings / technoholgy development / creating innovations / human communications / scientific research / artistic expressions / teamwork collaborations / academic exchange etc.
All these festering fundamental systematic problems are getting worse and worse everyday until one day when the system can suddenly no longer bear. Think USSR in 1989.