Apple will store iCloud keys in China for local users from February 28

Chinese users of Apple’s iCloud service will see their data–along with that data’s cryptographic keys–stored inside the country beginning Wednesday, Reuters reports. The move will mean that Chinese authorities will have easier access to Chinese users’ iCloud data than before when that data was stored in the U.S. The move is a contentious one, as human rights activists say Chinese authorities will now have an easier means of obtaining dissidents data since it no longer needs to go through the U.S. legal system to get Apple to hand over its cryptographic keys for Chinese users. For Apple’s part, the company said it had no choice but to comply with China’s new laws requiring cryptographic keys and the cloud data of Chinese users to be stored in the country. The company told Reuters, “While we advocated against iCloud being subject to these laws, we were ultimately unsuccessful.”