The dispute between India and China is well underway. Recently, the #BoycottChinaAppshas gained particular publicity in India and now Indian intelligence agencies have identified 52 Chinese appsthat the government should ban or urge its citizens not to use.
Authorities say some apps are collecting huge amounts of data, which is taken from other countries. The 52 apps they identified are a national security issue, according to authorities.
52 Chinese apps proposed to be blocked
The full list of 52 Chinese apps that have been flagged as dangerous in India includes:
Vault-Hide, Vigo Video, Bigo Live, Weibo, UC News, BeautyPlus, LIKE, Kwai, ROMWE, NewsDog, Photo Wonder, APUS Browser, VivaVideo- QU Video Inc, Perfect Corp, CM Browser, Virus Cleaner (Hi Security Lab), Mi Community, DU recorder, YouCam Makeup, Mi Store, 360 Security, DU Battery Saver, DU Browser, DU Cleaner, DU Privacy, Clean Master – Cheetah, CacheClear DU apps studio, Baidu Translate, Baidu Map, Wonder Camera, ES File Explorer, QQ International, QQ Launcher, QQ Security Center, QQ Player, QQ Music, QQ Mail, QQ NewsFeed, WeSync, SelfieCity, Clash of Kings, Mail Master, Mi Video call-Xiaomi
According to researchers, there is tangible evidence that these apps can be used for surveillance or other malicious actions.
A few months ago, the Indian government had advised its officials to stop using Zoom over security concerns, as servers are based in China.
Recently, an app called Remove China Appspromised to detect Chinese apps on a device and remove them, but it was later removed by the Play Storefor violating its misleading behavior policy.
Boycott China?
For now, all of the apps that have been flagged are still available on the Play Store and App Store, and we don't know if the Indian government will ultimately ban them.
However, despite the #BoycottChinaApps movement, many Indian users still have these apps on their devices and will likely continue to use them.
