Yahoo closes email service in China as it lowers curtain on the country

Yahoo has completely ceased its operations in China now that web services company has ended support for its email service in the country.

In a recent email sent out to customers, the company explained that it would soon close Yahoo Mail in China while advising them to switch to an alternative email service as soon as possible. Yahoo also recommended that users download their contacts, schedules and other important data before its email service closed for good in the country.

In an FAQ page on its site, Yahoo explained why it decided to end support for Yahoo Mail in China citing the country's new privacy regulations as the main reason, saying:

“In recognition of the increasingly challenging business and legal environment in China, including new privacy regulations, Yahoo services will no longer be accessible from mainland China. In all other regions, Yahoo features will continue to function as expected and there will be no changes to Yahoo Mail account, emails, photos or other inbox content for users globally.”

Leaving China

With the shuttering of Yahoo Mail, the company is now no longer operating at any capacity in China. This is because it ended support for its other services in the country back in November of last year at the same time China's Personal Information Protection Law (PIPL) came into effect.

Under PIPL, global businesses are required to regulate the storage and privacy of their data in a way that meets the demands of the Chinese government. However, the new law is both precise and vague at the same time which has made operating in the country much more difficult for global businesses.

While Yahoo's search engine hasn't been available in China for years, the company closed its original email service back in 2013. The year before though, Chinese ecommerce giant Alibaba bought a 20 percent stake in the firm and was responsible for managing the Chinese mail migration while still using the Yahoo brand under a tech and IP cross-licensing deal.

Yahoo isn't the only big company leaving the country though as Microsoft shut down LinkedIn in China back in October citing similar reasons.

Via The Register

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