Apple iCloud: China Telecom hosts user data in China

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Apple Transfers Chinese Users' iCloud Data to State-Run Servers in China

ICloud data belonging to Apple's China-based users is now in the hands of the Chinese government. The emails, pictures and text messages of users in China are now being managed by a division of the state-owned firm, China Telecom.

Privacy advocates have warned that the shift could make user data vulnerable to state surveillance. Apple says the move to store user data locally was made to comply with Chinese authorities.

In 2017, Apple announced that it would be partnering with local Chinese firm, Guizhou-Cloud Big Data Industry Development [GCBD], in handling operations of iCloud services for users in mainland China. In February this year, it was announced iCloud data of users in China would move to a new data centre in Guizhou province.

Apple said the shift was made so that it could comply with local cybersecurity laws. Apple said: "While we advocated against iCloud being subject to these laws, we were ultimately unsuccessful."

That arrangement has now been complicated by a new agreement between Apple's Chinese iCloud operator and the state-owned company, China Telecom.

Apple has confirmed that China Telecom's Tianyi Cloud division has signed with GCBD to provide storage for iCloud China.

The change in operation means that the data of iCloud users in China, including emails and photos, is now handled by the state-owned service; a move that has led to concern from privacy advocates anxious that this will give the Chinese government easier access to personal information.

中国电信成为苹果iCloud中国云存储服务商

中国电信天翼云与云上贵州已于6月底正式签署《基础设施协议》，这标志着自今年2月28日中国内地的iCloud业务正式由云上贵州负责运营后，云上贵州将牵手中国电信天翼云为iCloud提供云存储服务，中国电信也成为了首家为云上贵州运营的苹果iCloud中国内地业务提供云存储服务的提供商。

去年7月，苹果公司与云上贵州签订合作协议。今年初，双方正式宣布从2月28日起，中国内地的iCloud服务将转由云上贵州负责运营。云上贵州方面透露信息显示，苹果中国数据中心投资金额将达10亿美元，占地1000亩，将分两期建设，预计2020年初可投入使用。届时，中国大陆iCloud用户的所有数据将由海外迁至云上贵州公司运营的数据中心。而在过渡期，云上贵州公司将与国内三大运营商合作，采用租云的方式，为苹果iCloud提供运营服务。

虽然双方未透露具体的合作规模，但iCloud所有中国用户的数据都迁移到天翼云平台的话，数据存储体量和规模都将非常大。

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