Jun 08, 2021 12:30:00

Apple's new privacy protection feature 'Private Relay' is not available in China

At Apple's annual developer event,

WWDC 2021 , a new feature, Private Relay, that hides users' web browsing behavior was announced as part of iCloud +, a service that enhances iCloud. Private relays are an alternative to VPNs, but they have also been found to be unavailable in multiple countries, including China, for regulatory reasons.

Apple's new'private relay' feature will not be available in China | Reuters
https://www.reuters.com/world/china/apples-new-private-relay-feature-will-not-be-available-china-2021-06-07/

iCloud Private Relay and other Apple WWDC privacy features
https://www.fastcompany.com/90643627/apple-privacy-wwdc-private-relay-vpn-icloud-plus-macos-monterey

In WWDC 2021, Apple announced that it will update iCloud to roll out a service called iCloud +. New York-based business media fast company interviewed Apple's senior vice president of software engineering, Craig Federighi, prior to WWDC 2021 and includes new privacy within iCloud +. I asked about the protection function such as private relay.

Private relay seems to be regarded as 'Apple version of Virtual Private Network (VPN) ' in that it anonymizes the user's web browsing behavior, but there is a big difference between the two. In traditional VPN, the VPN server encrypts the user's IP address and routes the route to the website you want to access. In this mechanism, the visited website does not know the user's exact IP address, but the VPN operator knows the user's IP address and the website visited.

On the other hand, in Apple's private relay, the user's IP address and 'encrypted access URL' are first sent to Apple. Apple then encrypts the user's IP address and sends it along with the encrypted URL to a relay station operated by a partner content provider. The relay station then decrypts the encrypted URL and gives the user access to the desired website.

The important thing about the private relay mechanism is that 'Apple knows the user's IP address but does not know the site to access' 'The affiliated content provider knows the site to access but does not know the user's IP address' Is the point. Since no operator knows both the user's exact IP address and the site they visit, the risk of user data being misused is extremely low.

Federighi points out that while VPNs are useful for users who want to hide their IP addresses, they need to put a lot of trust in the VPN operator. However, since it is difficult for general users to accurately evaluate the reliability of VPN operators, Apple has developed a private relay mechanism in which there is no operator with accurate data. With a two-way anonymization system, you can use private relays to hide your identity, even if you don't trust Apple or your provider.

Private relay is automatically enabled when you log in to iCloud + on Mac, iPhone, iPad, etc., but it seems that Safari is the only browser that can be used, and it cannot be used with browsers such as Chrome and Firefox. You can also continue to use your existing VPN even when private relay is enabled.

In addition, although the website to be accessed cannot know the exact place of residence of the user with the private relay, it is possible to know the area. Therefore, you cannot use private relays to view content that cannot be viewed in a particular country or region.

In this way, private relays have become an alternative to VPNs, but it has been found that private relays cannot be used in several countries, including China, which is known for its strict government censorship. I will. According to Apple, private relays are not available in countries such as Belarus, Colombia, Egypt, Kazakhstan, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkmenistan, Uganda, and the Philippines in addition to China for regulatory reasons. At the time of writing the article, private relays are expected to be available from Japan.