Citing national security, Govt to ban 54 Chinese apps

New Delhi, Feb 14: The government has decided to ban 54 Chinese apps. Sources tell OneIndia that the ban on these apps are because they pose a threat to national security.

A fresh order was issued to ban over 54 apps and a number of them belong to large Chinese technology firms such as NetEase, Alibaba and Tencent. Many of these apps were rebranded and they pose a threat to national security and hence an orderer banning them was passed.

The ban order issued by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology said that these apps were transferring sensitive data of Indians to servers in foreign countries such as China. These apps have already been blocked from being accessed in India through the PlayStore.

Beauty Camera, Sweet Selfie HD, Beauty Camera - Selfie Camera, Equalizer & Bass Booster, CamCard for SalesForce Ent, Isoland 2: Ashes of Time Lite, Viva Video Editor, Tencent Xriver, Onmyoji Chess, Onmyoji Arena, AppLock, Dual Space Lite are some of the apps that have been banned.

The ministry used its powers under Section 69A of the Information and Technology Act to enforce the order. The source cited above said that many of these apps have changed hands in a bid to hide ownership. It was found that despite being hosted on servers in Hong Kong and Singapore, the data was going to Chinese destinations.

The government has since June 2020 banned around 224 Chinese apps. 118 applications including PUBG, TikTok, Shareit, Help, Like, WeChat were banned.