China has ordered officials at central government agencies not to use Apple’s iPhones and other foreign-branded devices for work or bring them into the office, reports the Wall Street Journal.
Quoting unnamed “people familiar with the matter,” the article says that in recent weeks, staff were given the instructions by their superiors in workplace chat groups or meetings. The directive is the latest step in Beijing’s campaign to cut reliance on foreign technology and enhance cybersecurity, and comes amid a campaign to limit flows of sensitive information outside of China’s borders.
This is just the latest brush-up between Apple and the Chinese government. For example, last month Apple removed more than a hundred apps offering ChatGPT-like services from its China store, as a regulation on generative artificial intelligence (AI) is set to take effect in the country in two weeks, according to The South China Morning Post.
In June, it was announced that China is planning to regulate file-sharing among nearby mobile devices for “national security” reasons, in a move expected to impact the use of such communication apps, such as Apple’s AirDrop.
According to a draft released by China’s top Internet watchdog, Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC), the new rules aim to limit the use of any “file transfer services that rely on Wi-fi, Bluetooth, and other information technologies to form networks instantly and communicate to other devices over a short-range.”
Article provided with permission from AppleWorld.Today