Apple transferring Chinese iCloud operations to a local firm

Apple is transferring over operations of iCloud data services for residents of mainland China to local firm Guizhou-Cloud Big Data (GCBD). The change was announced last year so that Apple can comply with local laws.

GCBD is based in Guizhou Province and supervised by a board ran by government-owned businesses. The Chinese cyber security rules, introduced in July last year, include a requirement for companies to store all data within China. In emails to mainland Chinese customers, Apple says that the move enables “us to continue improving the speed and reliability of iCloud and to comply with Chinese regulations.”

iCloud data will be transferred from 28 February, Apple said. Customers living in mainland China who did not want to use iCloud operated by GCBD were given the option to terminate their account.

Apple has previously come under fire for complying with the Chinese Government's internet restrictions. n August last year the company removed VPN software — which allows users to access websites banned in China — from the country's App Store. China is an attractive market for Western tech companies despite the dilemma of increasingly strict internet censorship.

Though people are saying that the move gives Beijing more opportunity to monitor its citizens and others living in the country, Apple notes that they have "strong data privacy and security protections in place and no backdoors will be created into any of our systems."