In an effort to appease Chinese authorities, Apple has just announced that it has made a deal with a local carrier in China to keep user data on servers inside the country.
The company revealed that it has begun keeping the personal information of Chinese users on state-owned China Telecom. The move comes as Chinese authorities continue to put American technology companies under scrutiny due to spying revelations from NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden. In Snowden's leaks, he detailed how American spy agencies conducted surveillance through technology firms.
In a statement sent to Reuters, the company said that while the data would be located inside China Telecoms' servers, it would be encrypted. This means that China Telecoms would not have access to the data.
"Apple takes user security and privacy very seriously," the company said. "We have added China Telecom to our list of data center providers to increase bandwidth and improve performance for our customers in mainland China. All data stored with our providers is encrypted. China Telecom does not have access to the content."
A source told Reuters that the encryption keys for the customer data stored on China Telecoms' servers would be kept abroad. Apple justified the arrangement with China Telecom by saying that it is looking to improve its cloud storage service iCloud. Having the data centers inside China is said to boost service delivery.
While the relocation of customer data may help improve the company's iCloud service, Apple's move is also seen as a grand gesture of cooperation to prevent problems with Chinese authorities. Apple's decision to submit to the country's officials comes as rival tech companies face legal problems.
Earlier this month, the country's officials announced that it is investigating Microsoft for anti-trust violations related to its Windows and Office software. China's State Administrator for Industry and Commerce raided the company's offices in Beijing, Liaoning, Fujian and Hubei due to alleged anti-monopoly violations.
There were indications that Apple was next on the chopping block. Last month, state-run China Central Television called iPhones a national security risk due to the device's location tracking feature.
