China has adopted a controversial cyber security law to counter what Beijing says are growing threats such as hacking and terrorism, reports Reuters. The legislation, set to take effect in June 2017, says “Ccritical information infrastructure operators” must now store both personal and business data on Chinese servers.
Overseas critics of the law say it threatens to shut foreign technology companies out of various sectors deemed “critical.” Rights advocates also say the law will enhance restrictions on China’s Internet, already subject to the world’s most sophisticated online censorship mechanism, known outside China as the Great Firewall.
More than 40 global business groups — including Apple — petitioned Chinese Premier Li Keqiang in August, urging Beijing to amend what they said were controversial sections of the law. However, Chinese officials say it won’t interfere with foreign business interests, according to Reuters.
This is another incident in a string of Apple problems in China. The Chinese government has decided that app stores operators such as the Cupertino, California-based company must establish the identity of users, while monitoring and reporting postings that contain banned content. In July Apple’s China branch was fined 50,000 yuan ($7,595) for “serious dishonest acts” such as suspected tax evasion. Also, Shenzhen Baili, a Chinese company won a Beijing patent office ruling, that the the iPhone 6 copied its own Baili 100C smartphone (although Shenzhen Baili is apparently no longer operating).
