Author: Rebecca

The country feels that this behavior could lead “state secrets” to be revealed to spies.

The ever growing disagreement regarding mobile security and American spying activities in China has now risen to a new level as Apple has been roped into the battle, with the iPhone being branded as a national security threat by state television media.

This announcement has arrived only a small handful of months after an iPhone deal with China Mobile.

Recently, a U.S. technology group entered into a deal with China Mobile to supply that company with iPhones. China Mobile is currently the largest phone company on the globe and this accomplishment was considered to be a critical step forward in Apple’s efforts to break into the Chinese marketplace of one billion smartphone users in a more meaningful way. However, online and mobile security have become a growing source of tension between the country and the United States and now it looks as though the success of this deal may be threatened.

CCTV has added this mobile security statement to the growing pile of criticisms of brands from outside the country.

This announcement arrived in the same week that China and the United States brought high level trade talks to a conclusion and were able to take only the slightest progress in updating an agreement that was already a year and a half old regarding the $2 trillion in annual trade of high tech products.

The state broadcaster in China, CCTV, has been steadily boosting its aggression when it comes to the criticism that it has been laying down against brands from other countries. Its latest accusation was regarding the ability of the iPhone to track its user through its geolocation and positioning tech, as well as having the ability to “view the user’s home address, unit information and whereabouts.”

The report from the broadcaster suggested that some of the information released by Edward Snowden, the former contractor from the National Security Agency (NSA) had shown that some of the data that Apple collected through its smartphones was passed on to advertisers as well as American spy agencies. The broadcaster went on to say that this mobile security issue went even deeper because the data could still be recorded regardless of whether the feature was turned on, placing “state secrets” at risk along with this “sensitive” information.

Security is one of the primary reasons why consumers do not use their mobile devices to make payments.

A recent global study conducted by international e-commerce firm and digital payments platform, PayPal, has found that while the majority of consumers (78 percent) are in agreement that making payments online is simple, 42 percent of survey respondents are not interested in taking advantage of mobile payments, with the primary reason being consumers are worried about data security.

U.S. consumers feel more secure about sharing their financial information online than those in other countries.

Paypal surveyed more than 15,000 adults in 15 different countries to find out how people feel about online and mobile payments and how much time engaging in these transactions could save them in a cashless society.

The study found that compared to consumers in many other nations around the world, Americans were more comfortable sharing financial data online. PayPal’s senior director of global initiatives, Anju Nayar, said “The study shows that only 29 percent of the U.S. worries about sharing their data online, versus the global average of 59 percent, which shows how accustomed Americans have grown to the layers of security and the buyer protection companies like PayPal and others have built into the e-commerce experience.” It is because of these security and buyer protection measures that U.S. consumers feel comfortable, Nayar added.

Fear of payment information being stolen was the greatest online and mobile payments concern.

57 percent of survey participants in most countries said that the biggest frustration when it comes to online shopping is they are worried about theft of payment details. On the other hand, U.S. respondents (46 percent) were less concerned about their payment information being stolen than respondents of other nations. Also, while 29 percent of Americans are hesitant about data sharing on the net, this is a much lower percentage compared to the 59 percent global average.

In addition, the PayPal survey addressed the issue of using cashless payments when traveling. 85 percent of respondents said they would feel greater security if they could travel cash-free and 50 percent stated they would not be so worried about the possibility of money being lost or stolen.

That being said, although the survey may have revealed that on the whole, U.S. consumers may be less afraid of data theft compared to other countries, the global stats still show that consumers will not completely embrace mobile payments until they are confident their financial information is secure.