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Apple Now Using China Telecom as Data Center Provider in China

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Original poster
Apr 12, 2001
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Apple has officially added China Telecom as a data center provider in China, reports The Wall Street Journal. The move comes after 15 months of "stringent tests and evaluation" by the Fuzhou city government, as Apple states that all data stored on the servers is encrypted. According to Reuters, Apple says the new data center will help improve the speed and reliability of iCloud and the iTunes Store in the region.
"Apple takes user security and privacy very seriously. We have added China Telecom to our list of data center providers to increase bandwidth and improve performance for our customers in mainland China," it said.
Click to expand...
The move could also help ease tensions between Apple and China as of late, as the country recently deemed iOS' location tracking services a "national security concern." Apple responded to those claims reiterating its commitment to privacy and stating that its Location Services exist to aide navigation features.

China has become an important market for Apple, as the company has looked to improve its presence in the country as of late. Late last year, the company started selling the iPhone on China Mobile, the country's biggest carrier, and opened more retail stores throughout the region. CEO Tim Cook has also made a number of visits to China, meeting with Bejing's mayor and the Chinese Vice Premier to discuss opportunities.

Article Link: Apple Now Using China Telecom as Data Center Provider in China
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2014/08/15/apple-china-telecom-data-center/
ArtOfWarfare

ArtOfWarfare

macrumors G3
Nov 26, 2007
9,558
6,058
I just discovered Privacy > Location > Services > Popular Near Me.

What does that do? It sends off your location to Apple each time you launch an app. Why? So Apple can sell that app to other people near you.

I call BS they care about your privacy. I turned it off because it's been killing my 4S's battery by firing up my GPS every time I swap apps.
 
P

Planey28

macrumors 6502
Jul 10, 2010
474
576
Birmingham, UK
ArtOfWarfare said:
I just discovered Privacy > Location > Services > Popular Near Me.

What does that do? It sends off your location to Apple each time you launch an app. Why? So Apple can sell that app to other people near you.

I call BS they care about your privacy. I turned it off because it's been killing my 4S's battery by firing up my GPS every time I swap apps.
Click to expand...

It's for the app store's popular near me section... its hardly violating your privacy since it only shows a list of popular apps in the area if a lot of users are using that app.
 
E

euphemus

macrumors newbie
Jul 12, 2012
28
5
Knowing what we know about civil liberties and state surveillance in China, this is basically the same as Apple just handing over its Chinese customers' phones to the government.

$ > ethics.
 
T

thasan

macrumors 65816
Oct 19, 2007
1,104
1,031
Germany
euphemus said:
Knowing what we know about civil liberties and state surveillance in China, this is basically the same as Apple just handing over its Chinese customers' phones to the government.

$ > ethics.
Click to expand...

mm...what? how is that too different from NSA? :confused:
at least, the customers will now be spied by chinese people :D

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samplane123 said:
It's for the app store's popular near me section... its hardly violating your privacy since it only shows a list of popular apps in the area if a lot of users are using that app.
Click to expand...

yep. the GPS never fires off...
and it very useful! thats how i found my local taxi has a really cool app! and now its one of my most fav apps :)
 
NSeven

NSeven

macrumors member
Jul 14, 2009
98
20
Scotland
ArtOfWarfare said:
I just discovered Privacy > Location > Services > Popular Near Me.

What does that do? It sends off your location to Apple each time you launch an app. Why? So Apple can sell that app to other people near you.

I call BS they care about your privacy. I turned it off because it's been killing my 4S's battery by firing up my GPS every time I swap apps.
Click to expand...

You still have a 4S??? get with the times man!
 
RightMACatU

RightMACatU

macrumors 65816
Jul 12, 2012
1,423
1,132
192.168.1.1
China, security and privacy in the same sentence LOL!
Funny how China does not use their typical response: Deny, deny, & deny ;)
 
Robert.Walter

Robert.Walter

macrumors 68040
Jul 10, 2012
3,084
4,327
I wonder whether the reports of the government "musing" about security was an effort to open, or further, a dialogue with Apple at subcontracting storage with a chinese IT company, or to push them to begin same rather than building up their own data center.

Given the long lead times for such projects, if such "musing" comes out shortly before the inaugural rather than the kick-off, then it is likely the government there is using the average citizen's ignorance of long-lead projects to raise the impression among its citizens that it quickly brought Apple to heel (and to take the political benefits from that.)
 
E

El Hikaru

macrumors regular
Dec 3, 2013
221
79
Sales in China is already twice more than in Japan and about 1/3 of US.
There are a lot of people live in China, they are buying like crazy, and still the majority of population are poor.
It is natural to see opportunity in this market.
 
firedept

firedept

macrumors 603
Jul 8, 2011
6,277
1,130
Somewhere!
This makes me laugh. Privacy in China. Hell has to freeze over first. Not sure that will happen anytime soon. We will see how soon the first complaint will come that the data was breached.
 
dlewis23

dlewis23

macrumors 65816
Oct 23, 2007
1,149
1,827
El Hikaru said:
Sales in China is already twice more than in Japan and about 1/3 of US.
There are a lot of people live in China, they are buying like crazy, and still the majority of population are poor.
It is natural to see opportunity in this market.
Click to expand...

Hopefully it translates to more App downloads/sales. Personally Ive only seen a slight uptick in downloads from China over the past year.
 
ricci

ricci

macrumors 6502
Aug 21, 2012
259
13
NYC
Ok? Soooo, you are trusting a country who has leaks most ever in years of leaking pics! Not even going to talk about how they illegally copy everything under the sun??. This can't. Be good!!! Who going to watch every single employee every second of every day??? Go luck with!!! :eek:
 
D

dbrinn

macrumors newbie
Oct 18, 2012
9
0
Everyone Wins…well,

Apple played right into the Chinese government's hands, probably by design.

China complains about iPhone security concerns (meaning they are too secure, but everyone reads it the other way 'round). Pressure mounts for Apple to choose a state controlled data center, which they do. Now the government has complete control over iPhone customers' content.

I expect the government in the near future to talk back their initial security concerns…everybody wins (except the Chinese citizens).
 
logicstudiouser

logicstudiouser

macrumors 6502a
Feb 4, 2010
532
1,069
Speaking of privacy, hidden under layers of menus, there is a setting in iOS 7 that is enabled by default called frequent locations. As the title suggests, it tracks wherever you go. You can disable it and delete the data that has been collected.

Settings > Privacy > Location Services > System Services, then disable the Frequent Locations option. Then clear history.

I don't think Apple should have that option on by default.
 
B

brandscill

macrumors 6502
Jul 10, 2008
442
89
Do apple have data centre providers in most countries or is most of the traffic routed back to the states?
 
macgabe

macgabe

macrumors 6502
Dec 29, 2012
341
296
This is a nice move by Apple. They’re not handing over the data to the NSA any more. Yes the Chinese MSS will now have access, but hey it’s not the job of US companies to tamper with foreign sovereign states. It’s Chinese data, let teh Chinese keep it. Yes China is a kind of totalitarian state. Is Apple the cause? No. Can Apple be the solution? No - if they don’t play ball they’ll just get blacklisted. Just imagine if a Chinese company refused to hand data over to the NSA in America. Oh wait, Huawei…

If the Chinese want to have a kind of soft revolution let them do it. Personally, I think many of complaints (even in China), are somewhat naive in wishing for radical change. Look at Iraq, Afganistan, South Africa (and they're probably the best of a bad bunch), Tunisia, Egypt, Syria to see what happens when a state is suddenly overthrown. Usually conditions deteriorate rapidly for the majority. The best that can happen is slow change, and that is what seems to be happening.
 
K

krravi

macrumors 65816
Nov 30, 2010
1,173
0
I am going to guess that this data center is up for grabs by the Chinese government for snooping.

Now, are there any facades that blocks the Chinese data centers from accessing the US data centers?

Don't tell me "Its all encrypted!" Like that stopped anyone.
 
PocketSand11

PocketSand11

macrumors 6502a
Jun 12, 2014
688
1
~/
ArtOfWarfare said:
I just discovered Privacy > Location > Services > Popular Near Me.

What does that do? It sends off your location to Apple each time you launch an app. Why? So Apple can sell that app to other people near you.

I call BS they care about your privacy. I turned it off because it's been killing my 4S's battery by firing up my GPS every time I swap apps.
Click to expand...

Good idea. I just turned it off too to save battery. I also disabled location-based iAds and diagnostics/usage.

----------

I'm glad China Telecom is not my data center provider.
 
T

tongxinshe

macrumors 65816
Feb 24, 2008
1,064
651
firedept said:
This makes me laugh. Privacy in China. Hell has to freeze over first. Not sure that will happen anytime soon. We will see how soon the first complaint will come that the data was breached.
Click to expand...

You are totally wrong. Unless you are a high-profile figure, you have a much much better chance to have privacy in China than in the US. The US NSA is much much more capable than the Chinese one, they are as immoral as each other, and as willing to invade everyone's privacy as each other.
 
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