Influential China TV alleges iPhone exposing 'state secrets'

Beijing News.Net Friday 11th July, 2014

BEIJING, China - The influential state broadcaster in China has flagged Apple's iPhone as a "national security concern" because of a location-tracking function that records the time and location of the owner's movements.

A report by state-run China Central Television (CCTV) is seen as the latest sign of a Chinese hostile response against American tech firms for allegedly posing security threats of one sort or another.

"This is an extremely sensitive data," a researcher interviewed by the broadcaster said.

"If the data were accessed, it could reveal an entire country's economic situation and 'even state secrets'."

The report said that the location-tracking function gives people with the access to that data a knowledge of China's economic situation or "even state secrets."

The US smartphone maker has frequently come under fire from Chinese state media, which accuses the American firm of providing user data to US intelligence agencies.

It has called for "severe punishment" to the phone maker that has also come under fire for poor customer service.

The People's Daily, the Communist Party's official organ, has also criticized Microsoft, Apple, Facebook, Google, Yahoo and others of being pawns of the US government's National Security Agency (NSA).

"Foreign technology services providers such as Google and Apple can become cyber security threats to Chinese users," the publication said last month.

Apple has not responded to requests for comment by various news agencies.

However, the California-based company describes the tracking function as an aid to iPhone users, for example by providing efficient travel routes.

iOS's Frequent Locations is enabled by default. However it can be turned off by the user.

"This data is kept solely on your device and won't be sent to Apple without your consent," Apple states on its support site.

Apple has been criticized in the past also. Last year, CEO Tim Cook issued a rare apology to Chinese customers for its warranty practices.

The media report comes months after the US technology group struck a deal to supply iPhones to China Mobile, the world's largest phone company.

The deal was considered as a key moment in Apple's attempt to reach over 1 billion Chinese smartphone users.