this post was submitted on 20 Jul 2023
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Apple proactively aids in censorship and stores all customer data, including encryption keys, on servers controlled by the Chinese government. They've also excluded security features from China and crippled existing features to aid government repression.
Thanks for the links. Unfortunately, that NYT article does not make a single mention of iMessage or end-to-end encryption.
Last I checked, iMessage still works in China. I find it implausible that China would allow this without access. If there's a mechanism for that, I'd like to know what it is and how far it extends. The fact that Apple doesn't admit that there's a difference in iMessage's security in China makes me wonder whether it is compromised globally.
I don't think there's any evidence of a global compromise but I think you're right that China wouldn't allow access if it didn't ultimately control it.
I couldn't find anything specific about iMessage but the keys are backed up to iCloud -- and we know that's compromised. I can't imagine them leaving users the option to just not back up to iCloud to avoid surveillance, but I haven't seen any specifics. Best to assume that under no circumstances do you ever have privacy from the gov't in China or even when messaging someone in China.