BEIJING, Aug 15 — Apple Inc has begun storing personal data for some Chinese users on servers provided by China Telecom, marking the first time that the company has stored user data on mainland Chinese soil.
It also represents a departure from the policies of some technology companies, notably Google Inc, which has long refused to build data centres in China owing to censorship and privacy concerns.
All data stored with China Telecom, as with all data centre providers worldwide, will be encrypted, Apple said in a statement today.
“Apple takes user security and privacy very seriously,” it said. “We have added China Telecom to our list of data centre 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 spokesman for China Telecom declined to comment.