Apple to store Chinese iCloud accounts and keep cryptography keys in China starting February 28th

A local law in China is forcing Apple to host Chinese users' iCloud accounts in a data center inside China starting on February 28th. Besides keeping these accounts domestically in China, Apple will also be storing in the country the cryptographic keys needed to unlock them. Previously, both the accounts and the keys were held in the U.S., which meant that Chinese authorities needing to unlock a Chinese iCloud account had to go through the U.S. legal system.

Once these accounts and the keys start to be held in China on February 28th, the Chinese government and law enforcement will be able ...