Apple has seemingly found itself tangled in yet another controversy related to China, as reports indicate that Chinese tech giant Tencent gets user browsing data from its Safari browser. The data sent includes the IP address of the user along with websites visited by the user.
In case you aren’t aware, such data sharing is done to help protect users from malicious websites. Apple has long been a part of Google’s Safe Browsing to help protect users from phishing scams using its fraudulent website warning feature. For instance, if a user tries to visit a website that has been flagged as fraudulent by Google, a warning is shown in Safari advising users not to visit the website. However, the fact that a Chinese company also receives such data has raised some eyebrows.
Johns Hopkins University professor and cryptographer Matthew Green suggests this could have consequences as it may reveal both the webpage a user is trying to visit, as well as his IP address. Besides, it could also leave a cookie on a device, and the data could possibly be used to build up a profile of a user’s browsing behavior.
However, evidence suggests that Apple sends browsing data to Tencent only when a user’s iOS region is set to China. That said, it’s still unclear as Green adds that the warning not only appears on Chinese-registered iPhones’, but also shows up on iPhones’ operating in the US.
Apple is one of the companies along with a few others who’ve long been criticized for appearing to bend over backward to China’s demands. Industry experts and users are concerned about China’s bullish influence on tech companies.
Apple came under fire last week when it removed the HKmap Live app from the App Store after pressure from Chinese authorities. Apple removed the app stating that it was violating local laws that targeted individuals and police. Besides, the company also removed the app of news outlet Quartz from China’s app store, on grounds that content found in the app is illegal in China.
Several American organizations operating in China have come under immense scrutiny and criticism for yielding to China’s censorship demands. Recently, Blizzard came under immense scrutiny after it imposed a ban on a pro-Hearthstone player who showed up in an interview and appeared to shout a slogan associated with Hong Kong protesters: “Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our time”.
