Tim Cook: Apple encrypts data in China like it does everywhere else

Apple CEO Tim
Cook.
Getty

• Apple CEO Tim Cook said in an interview with Vice that
  Apple views data privacy as a human right, and encrypts data
  the same way in China as it does in every other
  country.
• He said that while Chinese laws mean Apple stores the
  data of citizens in China, the data is still secure.
• Cook’s emphasis on resisting privacy intrusions in
  China could be seen as a subtle swipe at Google, which is
  working on plans to launch a censored search
  engine for the Chinese market.

Tim Cook has stressed that Apple does not bend the way it does
business in China — and it could be seen as a subtle swipe at
Google.

Cook did not mention Google in an
interview with Vice on Tuesday, but said Apple protects
user data in China in exactly the same as anywhere else in the
world.

The Apple CEO said his view of privacy as a human right applied
to how the company does business in China. “Encryption for us is
the same in every country in the world,” he said.

“We don’t design encryption for the US and do it differently
everywhere else, it’s the same. And so to send a message in
China, it’s encrypted. I can’t produce the content, I can’t
produce it in the United States either. If you lock your phone in
China I can’t open it,” added Cook.

Cook said that while Apple complied with laws that mean the data
of Chinese citizens have to be stored in China, that data is
under lock and key. “We worked with a Chinese company to provide
iCloud, but the keys […] are ours,” he said.

Cook added that the fact data is stored in China doesn’t make it
easier for the Chinese government to access it. “I wouldn’t get
caught up in ‘where’s the location of it,’ I mean we have servers
located in many different countries in the world. They’re not
easier to get data from being in one country versus the next.”

“The key question is how does the encryption process work, and
who owns the keys — if anyone. In most cases for us, you and the
receiver [of a message] own the keys.”

The comments are in contrast to Google, which is reportedly
preparing to launch a search engine in China that could be used
as “spying tools” by Chinese officials.

In September, The
Intercept obtained an internal memo that said Google’s
custom-built Chinese search engine would require users to log in,
and would harvest data about their location and search history
with a Chinese partner that would have “unilateral access” to the
data.

While Cook did not mention Google or Dragonfly in his interview,
setting a marker for user privacy in China sent a message,
especially given the harsh words he had for data collectors
earlier in the interview.

“The narrative that some companies will try to get you to believe
is ‘I’ve got to take all of your data to make my service better.’
Well, don’t believe that. Whoever’s telling you that – it’s a
bunch of bonk,” said Cook, although he did not elaborate on who
these companies might be.

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