14 DAY TRIAL // Back in 2016, numerous media outlets reported that Apple partnered with Alphabet's Google to use its Google Cloud Platform for data storage, but the Cupertino-based company never confirmed this deal.
CNBC reports today the discovery of an updated iOS Security PDF document on Apple's support website that confirms iCloud data is stored on Google's cloud platform. Until now, the respective document suggested Apple is relying on AWS (Amazon Web Services) and Microsoft's Azure for its iCloud services.
The reference to Microsoft Azure is gone from the latest version of the document, which now lists Google Cloud Platform along with Amazon S3 for storing AES-128 encrypted chunks of the keys using the SHA-256 cryptographic algorithm and the metadata of the files stored on the user's iCloud account.
"The keys and the file’s metadata are stored by Apple in the user’s iCloud account. The encrypted chunks of the file are stored, without any user-identifying information, using third-party storage services, such as S3 and Google Cloud Platform," reads the updated iOS Security for iOS 11 document on Apple's website.
There's no need to panic just yet
We don't know it Apple relies on Google's cloud services only for hosting iCloud data. However, this doesn't mean Google, or Amazon for that matter, will be able to read your files, so there's no need to panic just yet because Apple effective security methods store the data in encrypted chunks using some of the best cryptographic algorithms.
Both Apple and Google are yet to confirm anything on the hosting deal. Until then, you should always be aware of what files you are storing on your iCloud account so that you won't get into any trouble later. Apple's devices and services have always known to be secure by design, but not if the user sets a weak password and doesn't enable two-factor authentication.