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Apple surrenders to China’s data controls

by on12 July 2017


Finally a force that can make Apple obey


The Tame Apple Press has been reporting about how Apple is setting up a super-cool, ground-breaking data centre in China.

What is not really being said is that Apple does not need to build another data centre. Its own data centres are expensive and underused, but for some reason Apple feels the need to build another in China.

The tax-dodging cargo-cult said it will build the center in the southern province of Guizhou with data management firm Guizhou-Cloud Big Data Industry Co Ltd (GCBD).

An Apple spokesman in Shanghai told Reuters the centre is part of a planned $1 billion investment into the province. However the statement said that the move would allow Apple “to improve the speed and reliability of our products”, however every Apple fanboy would tell you that it is impossible for Apple to be faster without defying the laws of physics.

However the spokesman added, almost as an after-thought, that the move would enable Apple to comply with newly passed regulations.

"These regulations require cloud services be operated by Chinese companies so we're partnering with GCBD to offer iCloud," it said, referring to its online data storage service.

Apple is the first foreign firm to announce amendments to its data storage for China following the implementation of a new cyber-security law on June 1 that requires foreign firms to store data within the country.

However, the move puts Apple in a difficult position because other tech companies are worried that the law's strict data surveillance and storage requirements are overly vague, burdening the firms with excessive compliance risks and threatening proprietary data.

Apple needs China to prop up its failing iPhone sales, but it looks like it will be allowing Chinese authorities to monitor Apple fanboys' Coldplay use.

Apple has insisted that it had strong data privacy and security protections in place and it has not created any backdoors into any of its systems.

Last modified on 12 July 2017
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