On February 14, the government of India issued an order to ban another 54 mobile apps linked to China under the emergency provision envisaged in Section 69(A) of the IT Act. As per reports, the Ministry of Home Affairs had sent a request to the Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology to block the apps.
The 54 Chinese apps include 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.
— ANI (@ANI) February 14, 2022
Some of the apps that have been included in the list are AliSuppliers and Alibaba Workbench, CamCard — Business Card Reader, Chinese Social, WeDate, TrulyChinese, Isoland 2: Ashes of Time Lite, Viva Video Editor, Beauty Camera: Sweet Selfie HD, Beauty Camera – Selfie Camera, Tencent Xriver, Onmyoji Chess, Onmyoji Arena, AppLock, Dual Space Lite, Equalizer & Bass Booster, and CamCard for SalesForce Ent. The majority of these apps were either cloned versions or had similar functionality, privacy issues and security threats similar to the previously blocked 267 apps in 2020.
In a statement, the IT ministry said these apps allegedly obtain critical permissions and collect sensitive user information that is a threat the security and privacy. It said, “These collected real-time data are being misused and transmitted to servers located in a hostile country. This will enable them to compile huge personal data to mine, collate, analyse and profile by the elements who are hostile to the sovereignty and integrity of India and for activities detrimental to national security.”
The ministry further added there were security concerns associated with these apps that they could carry out surveillance activities and espionage by accessing camera/mic, GPS location and could indulge in malicious network activity. Similar threats were posed by the previously banned apps. The ministry said, “These apps were allegedly engaged in activities prejudicial to the sovereignty and integrity of the country also posing a serious threat to the security of the state and defence of India.”
Apps masked ownership to skip ban
Economic Times quoted an official saying several apps linked to Tencent and Alibaba made changes to hide the ownership. Some of them shifted their host server to countries outside China, such as Hong Kong or Singapore. However, the data was ultimately going to the servers located in China. He added, “Even apps such as ByteDance-owned TikTok and Tencent’s WeChat were available for download through alternative means such as APK files, and the government has taken cognisance of it.”
Google temporarily blocked access to apps
In a statement, Google said, “On receipt of the interim order passed under Section 69A of the IT Act, following established process, we have notified the affected developers and have temporarily blocked access to the apps that remained available on the Play Store in India.”
The govt had banned 267 apps
On June 29, 2020, the central government had announced a ban on 59 Chinese apps, including the very popular short-video app TikTok. Later on August 10, another set of 47 apps was banned that were either related to or clones of the previously banned apps. On September 1, 2020, another 118 apps were blocked, followed by 43 apps on November 19, making it a total of 267 apps. Tiktok and PubG were the most popular apps that were banned by the Government of India for their links to China.
