How Apple lets China have its way

Jack Nicas

Apple CEO Tim Cook often talks about the company’s commitment to civil liberties and privacy. “But to stay on the right side of Chinese regulators,” said Jack Nicas, his company has become “a powerful tool” of Beijing’s vast censorship operation. China has been essential to Apple’s growth as the world’s most valuable business. The Chinese government spent billions to “pave roads, recruit workers, and construct factories” for Apple’s massive supply chain. In return, China has aggressively sought concessions. In 2016, the government approved a law requiring that personal data “that is collected in China be kept in China.” Warned that Beijing could shut down

iCloud in China if Apple did not comply, Cook agreed to move Chinese customers’ personal data to the servers of a state-owned company in Guizhou province: Guizhou-Cloud Big Data, or GCBD. Then the digital keys that can unlock customer data were moved there, too—into the very “data centers they’re meant to secure.” In addition to compromising on data protections, Apple has “helped China spread its view of the world,” blocking and flagging apps that Apple managers “worry could run afoul of Chinese officials.” Indeed, “just as Cook figured out how to make China work for Apple, China is making Apple work for the Chinese government.”