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Apple stores Russian users' data on Russian servers, report says

The company told the Russian government it uses local servers in compliance with the country's laws, according to Bloomberg.

Laura Hautala Former Senior Writer
Laura wrote about e-commerce and Amazon, and she occasionally covered cool science topics. Previously, she broke down cybersecurity and privacy issues for CNET readers. Laura is based in Tacoma, Washington, and was into sourdough before the pandemic.
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  • 2022 Eddie Award for a single article in consumer technology
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Laura Hautala

If you're a Russian Apple user, the company stores some of your data locally on Russian servers.

That's according to a Bloomberg report Monday, which cites a document filed by Apple to the Russian government explaining how the company complies with the country's law regarding the storage of personal data.

The local storage reportedly includes names, addresses, email addresses and phone numbers. The document didn't include any statements on whether Apple stores common iCloud uploads like photos and messages locally in Russia, Bloomberg said. Privacy advocates have raised concerns about local storage laws throughout the world, saying they make it easier for the government to demand access to information about their citizenry.

Apple declined to comment on this story. In an interview with Vice in October, Apple CEO Tim Cook confirmed that the company stores user data locally in countries around the world.

But he said that didn't mean data was ripe for the taking. He stressed that the way the company encrypts the data is more important than where the server is.

"They are not easier to get data from being in one country versus the next," Cook said.