The statistics show that it was more willing to work alongside investigators in the United States, where it discloses information 81% of the time. In these instances, Apple gave investigators contents of customer iCloud, iTunes and Game Center accounts.Īpple didn't always turn over the information. Apple disclosed data to police on 1,886 them, of which 1,407 were provided to law enforcement in the United States. In the first half of 2015, police agencies around the globe asked to explore 4,472 Apple customer accounts, according to the company. A 2014 analysis by intelligence firm Asymco estimated that Apple was making $4 billion per year from 500 million iCloud accounts. But back in early 2013, Apple said it had more than 300 million iCloud users. If you want the information on your iPhone to be totally private - from everyone - don't use iCloud.Īpple declined to provide the total number of current iCloud users. It's a convenience that allows customers to track lost or stolen iPads and iPhones, restore damaged devices, and keep lots of music and photos that don't fit on the device. And even if you decline to save photos outside your phone, there are frequent pop-up pleas to change your mind.Īpple's iCloud service is a major selling point for the company. Store employees automatically connect new customers' devices to iCloud. The iCloud service is offered by default on newly activated devices. However, Apple aggressively pushes customers to backup iPhone content to iCloud, where that data is exactly within Apple's reach. Apple CEO Tim Cook's recent open letter to customers says: "We have even put that data out of our own reach, because we believe the contents of your iPhone are none of our business."