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Two-tier encryption in the UK

512 points · 472 comments · ReturnoftheHack

  1. egorfine · · focus · HN ↗
    I genuinely believe that in 2015 Apple had the balls to resist and today they don't.

    I am judging by a simple fact, that "please confirm your age" screen is now mandatory during the iPhone setup in all countries, and in some it's behind a KYC. I have a strong opinion that this is insane. And once they let the foot in the door - there is no closing it.

    1. briffle · · focus · HN ↗
      They never did. they had the balls to resist against western governments, where it was politically adventagous to do so. They folded to China real quick, because they wanted to make sales. All "icloud storage" in china has been on another storage platform, that follows all the local laws.
      1. egorfine · · focus · HN ↗
        Folding before China in China is not the same as folding before totalitarian western demands.
        1. ImJamal · · focus · HN ↗
          It is not like their HQ is in China. They chose to enter the Chinese market.
          1. sneak · · focus · HN ↗
            Every iPhone sold everywhere is manufactured in China. They make 34,000 iOS devices every hour, 24/7. That’s not possible anywhere else.

            Apple is, from a purely practical standpoint, more a Chinese operation than an American one.

            1. ImJamal · · focus · HN ↗
              They could manufacture them in China, but not sell the phones there?
              1. sneak · · focus · HN ↗
                China is their second biggest market, I believe.

                Additionally, the humans who make all of the iPhones and iPads are Chinese people, subject to Chinese law. Apple has to do exactly what the CCP wants, at least for now. They are desperately trying to ramp up phone production in India, but there is huge expertise at Foxconn that isn’t in India as yet.

                1. ImJamal · · focus · HN ↗
                  If Apple did not sell iPhones to Chinese consumers the Chinese government wouldn't make Apple provide a different icloud. They made that choice, not by manufacturing in China, but by selling there.
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