Education
Apple is opening up — slightly — to the Hong Kong National Security Act.
After Beijing effectively placed a new national security law on Hong Kong on 1 July, many saw the change as an attempt by Beijing to clamp down on dissension and dissent in the semi-autonomous zone.
Shortly afterwards, a number of tech giants — including Microsoft, Twitter and Google — said that they will avoid receiving requests for user data from the Hong Kong authorities, fearing that the requested data could end up in the hands of Beijing.
But Apple was obviously not on the draw. Instead, Apple said that the current rule was "assessing."
Apple did not state how many requests for consumer data it has obtained from the Hong Kong authorities before the latest national security regulations came into force. However, the company clarified that it would not accept requests for consumer content directly from Hong Kong. Instead, it focuses on a long-established so-called reciprocal legal assistance protocol that requires U.S. officials to first review demands from foreign governments.
Apple has confirmed that it maintains iCloud data for Hong Kong customers in the United States, so any subpoena by the Hong Kong authorities for consumer information must first be accepted by the Justice Department, and the US Federal Judge must issue a warrant before the data can be turned over to Hong Kong.
The business reported that it received a small number of non-content requests from Hong Kong relating to theft or stolen equipment and that the number of requests it obtained from the Hong Kong authorities following the implementation of national security regulations would be included in the forthcoming transparency study.
The Hong Kong authorities made 604 requests for information on the system, 310 requests for financial details and 10 requests for details on the user account during 2019.
The study also reported that, during the second half of last year, Apple received 5,295 requests from the U.S. authorities for data relating to 80,235 computers, a seven-fold rise from the preceding six months.
Apple has received 4,095 requests from U.S. officials for consumer data contained in iCloud on 31,780 accounts, double the number of accounts affected in the preceding six months.
Most of the inquiries related to pending cases of recovery and restoration of theft, Apple said.
The study reported that it obtained 2,522 requests from the U.S. authorities to maintain records on 6,741 user accounts, enabling law enforcement agencies to seek the correct legal mechanism for obtaining the data.
Apple also reported that it had received between 0-499 national security requests for non-content data from between 15,500 and 15,999 users or profiles, an improvement of 40 per cent from the previous survey.
Tech firms are only required to disclose the amount of national security inquiries within the framework of the guidelines laid down by the Department of Justice.
The company has released two FBI National Security Letters, or NSLs, dated 2019, which the company asked to make public. These letters are subpoenas issued by the FBI without any legal review and also with a confidentiality order that prohibits the corporation from revealing its existence. With the enactment of the Freedom Act in 2015, the FBI has been obligated to regularly review and withdraw gag orders as they are no longer considered necessary.
Apple also said it received 54 requests from governments to remove 258 apps from its app store. China filed the vast majority of requests.
