Published 18:27 IST, June 19th 2020
53 Chinese apps list: All the apps flagged by Indian Intelligence agencies
53 Chinese apps list was released by the Indian intelligence agencies who suggest that these apps must be deleted or blocked so that there is no spyware usage.
Indian intelligence agencies have come forward with a curated list of apps that are linked to China. They have advised Indian citizens to block the apps or stop the usage of these apps as soon as possible. The long list has 53 mobile application names which include some of the most famously used ones. As per an article in a leading daily, these apps are not safe and become a source for China to extract and collect large amounts of data.
53 Chinese apps list under the radar
Below is the picture of all the apps that are advised to be blocked or deleted from the phones. This list of 53 Chinese apps will help one understand which applications are to be avoided and not downloaded on the phones. Here is the list:
The Chinese apps banned list has some big names under it. Applications like Zoom, TikTok, UC Browser and SHAREit are widely used by people. This list is sent by the security establishment to the government. These also include apps under the 'DU' makers and the 'QQ' makers.
The news article quotes a senior government official, who shares that this recommendation given by the Intel agencies have the support of the National Security Council Secretariat. They feel that these could be very detrimental to the security of the country. The official also revealed how the parameters and risks related to each and every app are being examined carefully one by one. The officials, as per the article, have shared that many Android and iOS apps that have Chinese links have the potential to be used as spyware or have malicious intent. The security agencies have reportedly shared that not using such apps can be very helpful for the security of the citizens and the country.
There has been a vast discussion of the security of many apps from time to time. Apps like Zoom and TikTok have been under scrutiny for months now. In April 2020, the home ministry had restricted the use of Zoom on the recommendation of the national cybersecurity agency, the Computer Emergency Response Team of India (CERT-in). Many other countries have raised concerns about the security in Zoom, as it a video-conferencing app and thus almost always requires the camera. Taiwan has banned all government agencies from using Zoom. Germany also restricts its use to emergency situations and only on personal computers. The US Senate also advises its citizens to use other apps.
Even the video-sharing app TikTok has raised many eyebrows. The app is owned by Chinese internet company ByteDance. There were issues of security getting compromised from time to time. However, the company has denied all such allegations.
Updated 18:28 IST, June 19th 2020