52 mobile applications linked to China have raised concerns of national security as they end up extracting a large amount of data outside India. The Indian intelligence agencies have asked the government to block or advise people to stop the use of these apps.
They include video conferencing app Zoom, short-video app TikTok, file sharing apps like SHAREit, game apps like Clash of Clans, and other utility and content apps such as UC browser, Xender, SHAREit and Clean-Master. As of now, all these 52 apps are available in Google Play Store and iOS App Store.
Senior government official said the recommendation of the intelligence agencies had recently been supported by the National Security Council Secretariat, which felt that these could be detrimental to India’s national security.
On the recommendation of the national cybersecurity agency – Computer Emergency Response Team of India (CERT-in), the home ministry had issued an advisory on the use of Zoom this April. The Ministry of Home Affairs had deemed Zoom as an unsafe platform and advised users of the app to adhere to certain security settings to safeguard themselves from malicious attackers.
India wasn’t the first country to ban use of Zoom by government agencies and officials. Taiwan has banned government agencies from using Zoom, the German Foreign Ministry restricts its use of Zoom to emergency situations on personal computers while the United States Senate has advised members to use other platforms.