China doesn't need root access when they have control of Apple's data centers and easy access to user data
To stay on the good side of the Chinese authorities, the company has made decisions that contradict its carefully curated image.
www.nytimes.com
Over two decades, Apple built the world’s most valuable company on top of China. It now assembles nearly all of its products in the country and generates a fifth of its sales there. In turn, the Chinese government has pressured Apple executives to make compromises that flout the values they espouse.
An investigation by The New York Times revealed how Apple has risked its Chinese customers’ data and aided the Chinese government’s censorship. Here are five takeaways:
- Apple stores customer data on Chinese government servers.
- Apple now shares customer data with the Chinese government.
- Apple proactively removes apps to placate Chinese officials.
- Apple banned apps from a Communist Party critic.
- Tens of thousands of iPhone apps have disappeared in China.
iPhone may be secure. But customer data is not.