Report: China bans iPhone use by government officials

A recent report by the Wall Street Journal claims that Chinese government officials are now banned from using iPhones and devices from foreign brands at work over potential security risks. The ban is essentially part of a larger plan for the Chinese government to cut its reliance on foreign technology and keep sensitive data from possibly leaking. As per the report, Chinese government officials are instructed to not use their iPhones for work-related tasks and are also banned from bringing them to the workplace.

A follow-up report from Bloomberg News suggests that the ban will likely extend to government-backed agencies and state-run companies as China seeks to become technologically self-reliant. China is one of Apple’s largest markets and is home to several of its large-scale manufacturing hubs. The new measures can be viewed as counters to the US ban on Huawei and ZTE and more recently Tik-Tok.

Source 1 • Source 2 (both behind paywall)