iOS 15 'iCloud Private Relay' Feature Won't Be Available in China, Belarus, Saudi Arabia, South Africa and More

[IllinoisCorn]

I can't tell if this is a feature to Mail.app, your iCloud email account(s), or both.

Intrigued, but I rarely use my iCloud email. Used to use e-mail all the time to connect with people, but social media does that these days, as does iMessage, Messenger, etc.

 

[hot-gril]

Is this apple VPN in short?

iCloud private relay = VPN? Of course without the ability to change countries to watch some video streaming service.

I can't believe the article doesn't just say "VPN." It's a VPN, right?

 

[Jakewilk]

How is this different from a vpn? Just curious

 

[tillsbury]

It'll be interesting to see whether this will still allow access to Chinese websites from outside China if enabled. If you have property in china it's impossible to manage it remotely without some of the banking / billing super-apps

 

[patrickbarnes]

This is a VPN, but Apple is bound by local laws in every country they sell iCloud, so don’t expect it to be private in the sense that law enforcement can’t trace back traffic.

It’s so your data is private from your device *to Apple*.

The third party company is probably CloudFlare or someone in that space.

 

[reubs]

The article says all data leaving your device, so probably system-wide.

That’s kind of how I understood it, too? Maybe they said Safari to make it seem easier to grasp? Or is “Safari” what is used for ALL outbound traffic now?

And I guess this applies to macOS, as well?

 

[DekuBleep]

Is iCloud private relay currently available to people on the beta’s right now if they have an iCloud subscription?

 

[patrickbarnes]

It'll be interesting to see whether this will still allow access to Chinese websites from outside China if enabled. If you have property in china it's impossible to manage it remotely without some of the banking / billing super-apps

You can access content in China just like you can right now.

To provide the service in China, Apple would have to place their VPN endpoint in China, and presumably they don’t want to do that for X, Y and Z reasons.

Obviously Apple is still bound by Chinese law as they have offices and conduct business in China. But relaying traffic is a whole other thing.

 

[hot-gril]

That’s kind of how I understood it, too? Maybe they said Safari to make it seem easier to grasp? Or is “Safari” what is used for ALL outbound traffic now?

And I guess this applies to macOS, as well?

I dunno, maybe I missed something, so this article is the first I hear of it. They don't mention Safari here.

It'd be cool if it were for macOS too. Though I'd probably not use it anyway.

 

[ksgant]

So brave Apple. Please lecture us more on your virtue while joining in on denying basic human rights in other countries.

Please explain what YOU would do in this situation if you were running Apple.

 

[schlitzz]

No sheet Sherlock.

 

[0924487]

Is it not available in China for Chinese users or does it also affect foreigners in China with foreign Apple IDs?

 

[GeoStructural]

Apple can't just enable things if governments stop them. Clearly Apple is not at fault here, blame the governments that ban this from becoming a reality in those countries.

No one is blaming Apple for that, they are just calling them out on their ******** and hypocrisy.

If it truly was a fundamental human right to them, they would seek it for all, but business and income comes first. They have no problem fighting the FBI in court but would not dare upset China… you know, business.

 

[0924487]

I'm absolutely not going to get into discussing politics with strangers on an Internet forum (why would anyone?!) so this will be my first and last comment on the subject but... The Communist Party of China only stick to a communist doctrine when it suits them! Hell, they're more capitalist than most Capitalists when it's in their own interests.

I believe China is a socialist country.

 

[genovelle]

The article says all data leaving your device, so probably system-wide.

It is a Safari feature

 

[Deguello]

They can either comply or get banned. I don't think Apple is very altruistic, but even if they were fully, there is a case for keeping the foot in the door rather than burning bridges.

Would this thinking apply to 1930s Germany or do you ever take your foot out of the door?

 

[0924487]

You can access content in China just like you can right now.

To provide the service in China, Apple would have to place their VPN endpoint in China, and presumably they don’t want to do that for X, Y and Z reasons.

Obviously Apple is still bound by Chinese law as they have offices and conduct business in China. But relaying traffic is a whole other thing.

Chinese national security law also requires the internet service providers to log everything and provide not only the data but also the decryption services for the government when given an official order to do so. If there is a terrorist attack in China using this relay feature and Apple cannot provide data, or cannot decrypt data, or did not proactively notice the irregularities in said people's communication behaviour to report to the national security arm, then Apple is 100% criminally liable not only for the incident, but also the social consequences that follows. Apple's managers are going to face criminal sentences.

You can legally prop this up in China for sure, but if anything goes wrong, you are on the line.

 

[Cleartz]

Not surprised. It's a shame you'll have to pay for iCloud+ features.

 

[0924487]

I can't tell if this is a feature to Mail.app, your iCloud email account(s), or both.

Intrigued, but I rarely use my iCloud email. Used to use e-mail all the time to connect with people, but social media does that these days, as does iMessage, Messenger, etc.

If you are a professor or something like that. You still get a lot of emails, and it will be the primary mean of communication.

 

[Deguello]

It’s a cool idea, especially for devices that get taken out of the house.

That said, router-level VPN is pretty nice. Or, you know, so I’ve read.

 

[macduke]

This could double as a list of countries to avoid.

 

[0924487]

Not surprised. It's a shame you'll have to pay for iCloud+ features.

To be fair, there is a significant running cost to this. Data transmission cost is around $0.01 per GB egress. Since it is a relay service, you need to egress and ingress many times in the middle to provide the service. That's expensive.

 

[NT1440]

Sooo….how long until a National Security Letter winds up at the third party company and the NSA gets its hands in the process.

That’s for anyone thinking the US isn’t just as authoritarian in tracking citizens. At least the Chinese people understand what their government is doing. The US is every bit a surveillance state as China, just laundered through various mechanisms and companies.

I do like every time Apple throws them a curveball though.

Side note: A millennial living in China has a far greater likelihood of being able to afford their own house than in the US…but “freedom” or whatever that means to you folks 🤷‍♂️

 

[genovelle]

No one is blaming Apple for that, they are just calling them out on their **** **** and hypocrisy.

If it truly was a fundamental human right to them, they would seek it for all, but business and income comes first. They have no problem fighting the FBI in court but would not dare upset China… you know, business.

BS! If some politicians in this country had their way this would be illegal here. In fact they were attempting to force a back door which would have made this impossible here. Apple has to follow the laws of where they do business. The problem with what you are talking about is that the police wanted to ignore the law to get what they wanted.

 

[Deguello]

Would be interesting to know if this would stop working if I took my MacBook to, say, Colombia.