Chinese Apps Ban: What It Means For India, And Will It Even Work?

The Indian government has banned 59 Chinese apps to tackle privacy and security concerns of the Indian digital space.

The ban comes just days after Indian intelligence agencies had issued a warning against the use of Chinese apps, stating that these apps are not secure and extract a large amount of data outside India.

Reuters

Following the warning, the ministry of information technology has now confirmed the ban on 59 apps with links to China in a recent press release. As per the release, these 59 apps "are prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of state and public order.¡± You can check out the full list of 59 banned Chinese apps.

¡°There has been a strong chorus in the public space to take strict action against Apps that harm India¡¯s sovereignty as well as the privacy of our citizens,¡± the press release said, further adding that the ¡°government of India has decided to disallow the usage of certain Apps, used in both mobile and non-mobile Internet enabled devices.¡±

What does Chinese app ban order mean?

(Image: Reuters)

The announcement is pretty straightforward in terms of the ban. A total of 59 apps with links to China have been banned from use in India. The release, however, does not clarify how the ban will be imposed.

One possible way that the government of India already seems to be pursuing is the removal of such apps from the app stores of Apple and Google. At the time of writing this, TikTok is not visible on both Google Play Store and Apple App store.

However, some other apps listed on the banned list can still be seen, like CamScanner and Shein.

What about installed Chinese apps?

Another question that arises is on the use of the apps already downloaded by users. For now such apps seem to be working fine, including TikTok for many users. Going forward, the government can possibly ask the ISPs to block access to such app servers, rendering the active users moot on the apps.

If and when so, it would still be difficult for the government to monitor the use of such apps through APK downloads and VPNs -- this has happened in the past when Madras High Court TikTok ban sent people searching for the Chinese app APK on mirror websites.

These banned Chinese apps, however, will not be available on the main platforms for iOS and Android users alike.

Impact of Chinese apps ban

(Image: Reuters)

The Chinese app ban is bound to mark a huge impact on the business of these apps, with possibly millions of active users going to zero within a day.

TikTok alone crossed 2 Billion downloads on both Google Play Store and Apple App Store in April this year. Majority of this active users growth was thanks to India.

TikTok realises the devastating potential of the ban. It has now responded to it by saying, ¡°TikTok continues to comply with all data privacy and security requirements under Indian law, and has not shared any information of our users in India with any foreign government, including the Chinese Government." You can read the full statement here.

Not the first Chinese app ban attempt

India has actively sought a ban on some of these Chinese apps for various issues revolving around their use.

TikTok, for instance, was banned earlier too, on charges of promoting pornography content and increasing privacy concerns. It was re-listed on the app stores a few days afterwards.

Most recently, the app was caught by iOS 14 stealing information from Apple¡¯s clipboard whenever Apple users copy something on their device. This was the second time that the company was found carrying out this malpractice. When asked, it acknowledged the charges and said that the changes have been made to rectify the malpractice.

The bigger threat

(Image:: AFP)

As pointed out by cyber security experts in a report by Forbes, the biggest threat of such data theft by Chinese apps is that there is no practical way of knowing what the data is being used for. Or more importantly, who it is being shared with.

So the government of India¡¯s concern of national security through these apps in India is a well evaluated one and with the ongoing tussle with the Chinese troops on the country borders, it is high time such a step was taken for the digital security of the country.