BBC Chinese recently reported that, on Friday (July 11), as part of its national news program at noon, China Central Television (CCTV) broadcast news that labelled the Apple iPhone a "national security threat." CCTV criticized the "frequent locations" function of the Apple’s iOS 7 operating system, saying that researchers believe data points recorded by the feature could give those with access to this data knowledge of Chinese intelligence and even "state secrets." The TV report said, “The location data are very sensitive.” BBC Chinese mentioned in its report that official Chinese media have frequently criticized Apple about such issues as the “poor customer service” incident that occurred not long ago. [Editor’s note: On July 13, Apple responded to the CCTV report stating emphatically that the company has never and, in the future, will not obtain users’ “frequent locations” data and that the firm has never created a "backdoor’ in any of its products.”]
Source: BBC Chinese, July 11, 2014
http://www.bbc.co.uk/zhongwen/simp/china/2014/07/140711_china_cctv_apple_iphone.shtml
South China Daily, July 13, 2014
http://tx.southcn.com/tongxin/content/2014-07/13/content_104130252.htm