They don’t. You can use any random address, Apple doesn’t check. Not even a VPN is needed. There are other caveats when you’re switching regions, but they’re just inconveniences.
Pretty sure apple checks, Because I haven’t seen people call it easy.
In the end even if you patch the obvious holes, there could be other holes that tells Apple where you actually live (country). [Different story if you somehow manage to patch all those holes]
End of story
Apple never checks addresses. Have you ever switched regions before? Or create an Apple ID?
Apple does know where you live obviously, they simply don’t care in this case, and when they do, they sure do block it, i.e no third-party app store support unless you’re physically in EU. This is not the case here. It’s not a painless experience, but certainly not impossible.
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I lived in Japan for many years, used a Japanese SIM card but kept my U.S. apple account. The only thing I did was use an American credit card with a US payment address.
I also had a Japanese Apple account because I needed it to download some country specific apps…I just used a Japanese card for that account with a Japanese payment address.
I’m sure Apple knew I was the same person (I even used my real name on both) but they didn’t seem to care.
I have a multi-week trip to the UK for work later this year, I’ll be interested to see if my access to iCloud ADP is affected. I’m betting it won’t be but I’ll definitely report back on how it goes.
A report back would be appreciated then 
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Seems the Americans are serious about getting involved and stopping this.
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Seems like a stretch. They made a couple statements about it. I wouldn’t be surprised if it ends there, but it would be nice to be surprised.
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When the worst person you know makes a really good point lol.
I can’t believe I’m rooting for the Trump admin vs Europe/UK on privacy rights.
Nothing makes sense anymore
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It’s all talk until action is taken. This is to rile up and show their base that they are doing or trying to do good things.
It’s all… promises, promises in government. We should believe it when we see it.
I don’t agree with that stance. We should be encouraging them when they make these types of announcements to pressure them to follow through, otherwise you will never get any positive result.
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Is that comment for me?
Hopefully Apple will win their appeal, and someone will be there to leak it to the press for us.
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Don’t put your faith and trust in corporations hands. Their priority is money and shareholders, not your privacy, security, or human rights. As a corporation, they already sold their souls and morals, leaving the market because of something like this is off the table because it would actually be illegal for them to do so.
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As I said before:
For once apple is putting the money where it belongs.
We’ll see how the appeal goes though.
In Apples case, due to their deliberate branding choices, their profit motive is aligned with user privacy to a degree. Atleast enough that they leaked this story and removed ADP from the UK rather than comply with a backdoor.
It’s why ADP exists at all in the first place.
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The hearing is due to be held in private because it relates to the security services, but campaigners say the public has a right to hear it.
On its website, the Tribunal lists a hearing to be held before its president Lord Rabinder Singh on Friday afternoon.
The listing makes no mention of Apple or the government, nor has the Tribunal confirmed if they are the parties involved however a source familiar with the matter has indicated that is the case.
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Politicians and civil society groups in the United Kingdom are calling for a secret court hearing expected on Friday about the British government’s encryption demands on Apple to be held in public.
It follows warnings from experts, including from Britain’s own intelligence community, that the government’s attempts to access encrypted messaging platforms should be more transparent. Academics described the Home Office’s ongoing refusal to either confirm or deny the legal demand as unsustainable and unjustifiable.
Listings for the Investigatory Powers Tribunal — the only court in the country that can hear certain national security cases — include a hearing set to take place behind closed doors on Friday, featuring the Tribunal’s president, Lord Justice Singh, alongside the senior High Court judge Justice Johnson.