Apple will help launch a new data center in the Guizhou province of China to boost iCloud services locally.
A new report claims the company has signed a cooperation agreement with the government to invest $1 billion in the facility, which will be maintained by a third-party.
Due to national security concerns, Apple has little control over its iCloud data centers in China. In August 2014, it moved services to state-controlled servers operated by China Telecom. Under its new agreement, the servers will be maintained by Guizhou-Cloud Big Data Industry.
Digitimes reports that Apple has entered into a cooperation agreement with the government to build a new data center in Guizhou, a province in the southwestern part of the country. It will invest $1 billion into its construction, but Apple will have no control over it once it’s live.
“In the agreement, Apple is able to provide services to its users using iCloud and Guizhou-Cloud Big Data dual-brands and Guizhou-Cloud Big Data will be the responsible for the datacenter’s operation,” the report reads.
This will allow Apple to continue providing iCloud services in China, without fears that the company could be spying on its citizens for the U.S. government. It has previously been under fire for the way it stores customer data, and for allowing users to track an iPhone’s location.
Despite being processed by third-party servers, data from iCloud and services like iMessage will still be encrypted in exactly the same way it is in the U.S.
