Apple has been fined 2 million roubles, equivalent to $34,000 USD, in Russia, for refusing to store iCloud data of its citizens inside the country. Apple is popularly known for following such requirements for other locations such as China, where iCloud data for the country’s citizens is stored within the country’s territory.
Google, Zoom, and Ookla also face fines in Russia, alongside Apple
On the sidelines of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the country has also been increasingly critical of American tech companies for issues like content censorship and data control. A court in Moscow’s Tagansky district in Russia fined not only Apple, but also other companies like Google, Zoom, and Ookla for similar reasons.
Apple has been hosting iCloud data in Chinese data centers since 2016. The data centers are located in China and co-owned by a government-owned company. Despite the location of the data, Apple continues to encrypt the data, just like it does in other locations like the United States.
It is unclear whether Russia asked for the exact same treatment for iCloud data of its citizens or if it wanted any access that could impact user privacy. It is likely that the reason that Apple has not complied with Russia’s demands is privacy and security, but we have yet to find out.
While Apple has been fined 2 million roubles, Reuters reports that Google has been fined 60,000 roubles for another data-related offense. Zoom and Okla have been fined 1 million roubles each.
Read more:
- Russia could fine Apple for data storage violations – Report
- Apple’s assets in Russia might get nationalized – Report
- Apple Maps shows “Crimea” as part of Ukraine, outside Russia
- Apple pauses advertising on App Store in Russia, another anti-war measure
- Apple Pay and Google Pay services down in Russia, after declaration of war against Ukraine
- Apple halts all purchases via its official online store and suspends Apple Pay in Russia
