Apple Inc on Monday came under fire for sending Web browsing data, including IP addresses, to China’s Tencent Holdings Ltd (騰訊), the latest criticism of how the company operates in the world’s most populous nation.
For about two years, Apple has been sending data to Tencent as part of an iPhone and iPad security feature that warns users if a Web site is malicious or unsafe before they load it.
The US firm checks addresses against an existing list of sites known to be problematic. That list is maintained by Tencent for users in China and Google for other regions.
In newer versions of Apple’s iOS, the company says this feature “may also log your IP address,” potentially providing Tencent, a Chinese Internet conglomerate with government ties, data such as a user’s location.
The safe browsing feature with Google was first added to iOS in 2008, but it was expanded to include Tencent in iOS 11 in 2017. Apple updated its description of the feature in more recent versions of iOS.
It is not the first time that Apple has been criticized for working with a Chinese company to handle local data. Last year, Apple partnered with Guizhou-Cloud Big Data (雲上貴州大數據) to store iCloud data for users in China.
Apple has also been scrutinized for appeasing China.
BuzzFeed has reported that Apple told creators of shows for its TV+ streaming service to avoid portraying China in a poor light.
The company also removed the Republic of China flag from the emoji keyboard on devices running in Hong Kong and Macau, after earlier pulling it from China.
It also came under fire for removing a maps app in Hong Kong that the developer said was designed to help users avoid areas of protest.
Apple said it was following local laws in both instances.
Apple said in a statement that the feature protects user privacy and safeguards people’s data.
The checks occur on the devices and the actual Web addresses are never shared with Tencent and Google, the safe browsing providers, it said, adding that the feature is on by default, but can be switched off.
The IP address of a device is shared when a Web site is found to be suspicious and a warning is sent.
Some users were concerned that data would be sent to Tencent globally because the firm is mentioned even on iPhones outside of China. Apple is likely to clarify this in a future version of iOS.
The feature can be disabled under the Privacy & Security section in the Settings app by tapping the “Fraudulent Website Warning” toggle.
If a user does that, IP addresses would not be shared, but Apple also would not be able to check Web sites against Tencent’s or Google’s lists.
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