- The first of such bans arrived in June 2020, in the wake of the brutal clash between Indian and Chinese forces at Galwan Valley
- In September 2020, in what amounted to its most significant move, the government banned PUBG Mobile and PUBG Mobile Lite
- The government has banned over 320 China-linked apps since the border tensions between China and India escalated in May 2020
The Indian government moved to ban 54 Chinese apps citing national security concerns, confirmed the ministry of electronics and information technology on Monday.
“These 54 apps allegedly obtain various critical permissions and collects sensitive user data. These collected real-time data are being misused and transmitted to servers located in hostile country,” read the ministry’s statement.
Among the various apps banned were Sweet Selfie HD, Beauty Camera – Selfie Camera, Viva Video Editor, Tencent Xriver, Onmyoji Arena, Dual Space Lite and Garena Free Fire – Illuminate, an app that grew popular in India following the government’s earlier decision to ban the multiplayer app, PUBG.
For perspective, this is the fifth time that the central government has announced bans on China-linked apps since the flare-up at Indo-China border in 2020. The first of these bans arrived in June 2020, in the wake of the brutal clash between Indian and Chinese forces at Galwan Valley. At the time, 59 Chinese apps were banned including WeChat, TikTok, Helo, ShareIT, UC Browser, Clubfactory and Mi Community under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act. The Centre had noted that the apps were illegally harvesting excessive amounts of data and transferring it to suspect third parties.
The government followed this up with another ban on 47 Chinese apps in July 2020, many of which, it noted, had been developed as clone apps of the previously-banned apps. These included Bigo Lite, VFY, TikTok Lite, ShareIT Lite and Helo Lite.
Then in September 2020, in what amounted to its most significant move, the government banned PUBG Mobile and PUBG Mobile Lite. Finally, in November 2020, the government ordered the removal of another 43 apps from the Google Play and Apple App stores that included apps like Chinese Social – Free Online Dating Video App and Chat, Date in Asia, WeDate- Dating App and Free dating app- Singol, among others. According to reports, the government has banned over 320 China-linked apps since the border tensions between China and India escalated in May 2020.
Why the bans?
The majority of phone apps collect much more information than users expect that they would. Several privacy experts have noted that just downloading an app alone could potentially expose sensitive user data to various advertising technology companies, data brokers, aggregators or other agencies.
The question then arises around who or where these third party entities share this data with. Many of the Chinese apps identified by the Centre have vague privacy terms and conditions, and in the absence of a dedicated data protection law in India, some experts have noted that the situation effectively amounted to a ‘wild, wild west.’
However, what is particularly concerning is the opaqueness in the relationships that app companies have with China’s state apparatus. There are legitimate fears that app providers may hand over information to the Chinese government at its behest. In light of the real risk that Chinese federal agencies may compel companies to transfer sensitive data, India’s move to limit the use of such apps without clearly defined privacy regulations in place represents a step in the right direction concerning data protection.
