Apple Now Using China Telecom as Data Center Provider in China

china_telecom_logo 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.

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.

Top Rated Comments

yjchua95 Avatar
127 months ago
"Apple takes user security and privacy very seriously."

Privacy, my ass...
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Planey28 Avatar
127 months ago
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.

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.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
euphemus Avatar
127 months ago
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.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
tongxinshe Avatar
127 months ago
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.

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.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
euphemus Avatar
127 months ago
how is that too different from NSA?

It's not.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
thasan Avatar
127 months ago
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.

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

----------

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.

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 :)
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

maxresdefault

Apple Announces 'Let Loose' Event on May 7 Amid Rumors of New iPads

Tuesday April 23, 2024 7:11 am PDT by
Apple has announced it will be holding a special event on Tuesday, May 7 at 7 a.m. Pacific Time (10 a.m. Eastern Time), with a live stream to be available on Apple.com and on YouTube as usual. The event invitation has a tagline of "Let Loose" and shows an artistic render of an Apple Pencil, suggesting that iPads will be a focus of the event. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more ...
Apple Silicon AI Optimized Feature Siri

Apple Releases Open Source AI Models That Run On-Device

Wednesday April 24, 2024 3:39 pm PDT by
Apple today released several open source large language models (LLMs) that are designed to run on-device rather than through cloud servers. Called OpenELM (Open-source Efficient Language Models), the LLMs are available on the Hugging Face Hub, a community for sharing AI code. As outlined in a white paper [PDF], there are eight total OpenELM models, four of which were pre-trained using the...
Apple Vision Pro Dual Loop Band Orange Feature 2

Apple Cuts Vision Pro Shipments as Demand Falls 'Sharply Beyond Expectations'

Tuesday April 23, 2024 9:44 am PDT by
Apple has dropped the number of Vision Pro units that it plans to ship in 2024, going from an expected 700 to 800k units to just 400k to 450k units, according to Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. Orders have been scaled back before the Vision Pro has launched in markets outside of the United States, which Kuo says is a sign that demand in the U.S. has "fallen sharply beyond expectations." As a...
iPad And Calculator App Feature

Apple Finally Plans to Release a Calculator App for iPad Later This Year

Tuesday April 23, 2024 9:08 am PDT by
Apple is finally planning a Calculator app for the iPad, over 14 years after launching the device, according to a source familiar with the matter. iPadOS 18 will include a built-in Calculator app for all iPad models that are compatible with the software update, which is expected to be unveiled during the opening keynote of Apple's annual developers conference WWDC on June 10. AppleInsider...
iOS 18 Siri Integrated Feature

iOS 18 Rumored to Add These 10 New Features to Your iPhone

Wednesday April 24, 2024 2:05 pm PDT by
Apple is set to unveil iOS 18 during its WWDC keynote on June 10, so the software update is a little over six weeks away from being announced. Below, we recap rumored features and changes planned for the iPhone with iOS 18. iOS 18 will reportedly be the "biggest" update in the iPhone's history, with new ChatGPT-inspired generative AI features, a more customizable Home Screen, and much more....