Apple CEO Tim Cook says privacy talks with Chinese government were 'very open'
Tim Cook's tour of China continues with another interview with local media, this time with the Apple CEO telling users in the country that he had "very open" discussions on privacy and security with the Chinese government, following a series of attacks in the country targeting Apple users.
Cook met with Ma Kai, China's vice premier, earlier this week in Beijing, and the two discussed "protection of users' information" in the wake of hackers' efforts to obtain iCloud user logins. Cook acknowledged those talks -- but not the hacks -- in an interview with China's Xinhua news agency, and suggested the discussions were productive.
Chinese activist group GreatFire.org has accused its government of being involved in the attacks, which have seen iCloud user data harvested by spoofing the icloud.com website. The "man-in-the-middle" attacks are said to utilize incredibly deep access to the servers of government-owned Chinese providers, which has helped fuel speculation that the Chinese government is cooperating with hackers.
China's government has denied the allegations, and has said it too has been targeted by hackers. The iCloud-focused efforts came to light when users in China began to receive security warnings from Apple's iCloud service.
Similar hacks have been implemented in the past, also targeting American companies with services on the Internet, including Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft Hotmail.
In his interview with Xinhua, Cook also said bringing Apple Pay to China is "on top of the list" of things he wants to do. The CEO called China a "key market," and said that any service Apple provides, he plans to bring to the country.
Apple is rumored to partner with UnionPay to launch Apple Pay on the newly released iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. However, the Cupertino, Calif., company has not yet provided any international launch dates for the currently U.S.-only Apple Pay service.
In another Chinese media interview conducted this week, Cook also said that Apple plans to build 25 new retail stores in China within the next two years. That would bring its total number of locations up from 15 to 40.
On his trip, Cook also stopped by Foxconn's iPhone factory in Zhengzhou, where he met with assembly line workers. The CEO also tweeted out a photo of himself sitting with a Foxconn worker putting the finishing touches on a new iPhone 6 unit.
Cook met with Ma Kai, China's vice premier, earlier this week in Beijing, and the two discussed "protection of users' information" in the wake of hackers' efforts to obtain iCloud user logins. Cook acknowledged those talks -- but not the hacks -- in an interview with China's Xinhua news agency, and suggested the discussions were productive.
Chinese activist group GreatFire.org has accused its government of being involved in the attacks, which have seen iCloud user data harvested by spoofing the icloud.com website. The "man-in-the-middle" attacks are said to utilize incredibly deep access to the servers of government-owned Chinese providers, which has helped fuel speculation that the Chinese government is cooperating with hackers.
China's government has denied the allegations, and has said it too has been targeted by hackers. The iCloud-focused efforts came to light when users in China began to receive security warnings from Apple's iCloud service.
Similar hacks have been implemented in the past, also targeting American companies with services on the Internet, including Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft Hotmail.
In his interview with Xinhua, Cook also said bringing Apple Pay to China is "on top of the list" of things he wants to do. The CEO called China a "key market," and said that any service Apple provides, he plans to bring to the country.
Apple is rumored to partner with UnionPay to launch Apple Pay on the newly released iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. However, the Cupertino, Calif., company has not yet provided any international launch dates for the currently U.S.-only Apple Pay service.
In another Chinese media interview conducted this week, Cook also said that Apple plans to build 25 new retail stores in China within the next two years. That would bring its total number of locations up from 15 to 40.
On his trip, Cook also stopped by Foxconn's iPhone factory in Zhengzhou, where he met with assembly line workers. The CEO also tweeted out a photo of himself sitting with a Foxconn worker putting the finishing touches on a new iPhone 6 unit.
Comments
Or ... or ... were they privet opency talks...?
'Honorable Mr. Cook, just opency purse strings and we will be most obliging'
edit typo
Say the Chinese government was behind it, how it they much different that the US Government collecting information on everyone worldwide.
Also keep in mind that Hackers in the US have hacked into US government computers and networks to use them to attach out systems. The US government does not want to talk about that.
This is what Apple decided to put Chinese users on Chinese servers, verse put them in the US, this way if the China government want to spy on its people they will not have access to US accounts.
Speakers related the 'no man's land' situation that persists in China. No one really knows exactly who is doing what to whom and that extends to the government themselves - the various departments are constantly played off against one another.
Upshot? Well yes, there is genuine outrage over security concerns and yes, the state controlled media will pick the easy targets like Apple, but from my visits, there is general scepticism too. The media could kick up a storm saying that Apple's iPhone gives you Mad Cow Disease - but nobody would really believe it, not in the well educated sector where Apple's gear is highly prized.
Say the Chinese government was behind it, how it they much different that the US Government collecting information on everyone worldwide.
Also keep in mind that Hackers in the US have hacked into US government computers and networks to use them to attach out systems. The US government does not want to talk about that.
This is what Apple decided to put Chinese users on Chinese servers, verse put them in the US, this way if the China government want to spy on its people they will not have access to US accounts.
If you are going to make claims like this you should really source your accusation. Also I'm not entirely sure what you mean by "attach out systems", I'll assume a couple typos and you meant to say "attack our systems" however I'm not entirely sure what you would mean by our systems. As for Apple putting Chinese users on Chinese servers I believe you are mistaken. Also I don't believe that Apple would be complicit in allowing any government to spy on it's users as you imply with your last sentence. In fact I believe the following link explicitly says otherwise.
https://www.apple.com/privacy/
-PopinFRESH
If you are going to make claims like this you should really source your accusation. Also I'm not entirely sure what you mean by "attach out systems", I'll assume a couple typos and you meant to say "attack our systems" however I'm not entirely sure what you would mean by our systems. As for Apple putting Chinese users on Chinese servers I believe you are mistaken. Also I don't believe that Apple would be complicit in allowing any government to spy on it's users as you imply with your last sentence. In fact I believe the following link explicitly says otherwise.
https://www.apple.com/privacy/
-PopinFRESH
Thanks typo police but the typo was so bad it should have been "Attack other Systems" like denial of service attacks.
Also back in the 80's and 90's and I am not going to research the specific, there were individuals who hacked into government systems and use them for other means and they were arrested and went to jail for what they did.
Yes, Apple agreed to set up icloud servers in China, to warehouse Chinese user data. This was done for lots of reasons, one was the fact our Government was spying on people in the US. Also it is known the Chinese have been trying to hack US systems especial if it contained information about Chinese nationals. You have to realize that anything housed in mainland China is subject to the government access as they feel fit. Apple houses the systems in a Chinese owned facility since US company are not allowed to own stuff in China.Also why do you think the US bans the sale of Huawei networking equipment in the US. It is well document that their products have back doors and Huawei is a government funded company. That article is new, however, I worked for a network equipment company back in the early 2000's when Huawei first came on the scene and we knew then they had back doors.
Lastly, Apple privacy police only apply to US not China. China has not laws on this subject like the US has
Thanks typo police but the typo was so bad it should have been "Attack other Systems" like denial of service attacks.
Also back in the 80's and 90's and I am not going to research the specific, there were individuals who hacked into government systems and use them for other means and they were arrested and went to jail for what they did.
Yes, Apple agreed to set up icloud servers in China, to warehouse Chinese user data. This was done for lots of reasons, one was the fact our Government was spying on people in the US. Also it is known the Chinese have been trying to hack US systems especial if it contained information about Chinese nationals. You have to realize that anything housed in mainland China is subject to the government access as they feel fit. Apple houses the systems in a Chinese owned facility since US company are not allowed to own stuff in China.Also why do you think the US bans the sale of Huawei networking equipment in the US. It is well document that their products have back doors and Huawei is a government funded company. That article is new, however, I worked for a network equipment company back in the early 2000's when Huawei first came on the scene and we knew then they had back doors.
Lastly, Apple privacy police only apply to US not China. China has not laws on this subject like the US has
You should really proof read your posts before hitting that submit button. Not trying to be the typo police or grammar nazi, but your typos and misuse of words genuinely leads to confusion of your meaning. Also, you should still take the few seconds to source your claims. As for the iCloud servers in China, the data is encrypted as it is here in the US and is not accessible by China Telcom. This is why the "man-in-the-middle" attacks that spoof the iCloud authentication were attempted.
Here is a source for your statement about iCloud servers in China:
http://************/2014/08/14/apple-starts-using-china-telecoms-data-centers-to-store-icloud-data-for-china-users-rather-than-us-locations/
Lastly, hackers have no need to hack into government systems for the purposes of denial of service attacks (or the like). There are plenty of compromised end user machines and servers they can use to carry out these attacks. If they were attacking the governments computer systems, it would surely be to gain information and not simply to use their systems for attacking other systems.
-PopinFRESH
Or ... or ... were they privet opency talks...?
'Honorable Mr. Cook, just opency purse strings and we will be most obliging'
edit typo
Yeah, when I hear unexpectedly good results from talks with China, I'm assuming that the Westerner in question is coming home with a lighter wallet.
Nowhere near just you. Unfortunately still far fewer people than it should be.