source from: FT website
March 16, 2016 12:33 am
Apple reveals new details of data centres in China
Leslie Hook in San Francisco

NEW YORK, NY - JANUARY 26: The Apple store on Fifth Avenue is seen on January 26, 2016 in New York City. This afternoon Apple reported the slowest iPhone earnings since 2007. (Photo by Andrew Burton/Getty Images)©Getty
Apple has revealed new details about its controversial data centres in China, amid a dispute with the FBI that has raised questions about its privacy policies outside the US.
In China — Apple’s fastest-growing market — the company has acceded to unusual government requests, such as using China-based data centres and incorporating a Chinese WiFi standard, drawing criticism over whether it was turning a blind eye to government snooping. China accounts for a quarter of Apple’s revenue, with sales of $18bn last quarter.
Apple attempted to address these concerns in court documents filed on Tuesday in preparation for its hearing next week in the case brought by the FBI. The bureau is seeking court approval to compel Apple to unlock an iPhone used by one of the San Bernardino terrorists.
The Department of Justice has accused Apple of making special accommodations in China. In a court submission, Apple’s software head defended its dealings with governments around the world. However, he stopped short of saying that user data had never been accessible by any foreign government.
“Apple has never made user data, whether stored on the iPhone or in iCloud, more technologically accessible to any country’s government,” said Craig Federighi, head of software engineering, in a statement.
“It is my understanding that Apple has never worked with any government agency from any country to create a ‘backdoor’ in any of our products or services,” he wrote.
Apple attorneys said that its servers in China stored data that was fully encrypted, and that the servers were there to reduce the lag-time, or latency, for Apple users in China. Only Chinese citizens’ data were stored there, the attorney said, and the fact that the server was physically located in China was irrelevant because the encryption key was in the US.
Apple began storing Chinese users’ data in local servers there in 2014, before the iPhone 6 went on sale in the region.
Mr Federighi said Apple only ever provided an unmodified iPhone as part of its applications for regulatory approval around the world, and had never shared the iPhone source code with any government.
Apple received requests from the Chinese government for data on more than 4,000 devices during the first half of last year, and complied with three-quarters of the requests. By comparison, Apple received more than 9,000 requests from the US during the same period.