The Intel agencies have asked the Indian government to block or urge the people to stop using the Chinese apps. As per the observations, there are fifty-two Chinese apps available for people to download on Google play store and Apple iOS App stores. These apps which are China-linked according to the Intel agencies pose a threat to the national security of India. These apps may be used to take a huge amount of data.
These Chinese apps that are being seen as posing a threat to national security are widely popular in India. In recent times due to the lockdown, there has been a huge usage of the app ‘zoom call’ for video conference for offices, online classes for schools and colleges, and a great Medium for friends to talk to each other.
In April the home ministry on the recommendation of national cybersecurity agency – Computer Emergency Response Team of India (CERT-in) has issued an advisory on the use of zoom call. According to them, it is an unsafe platform. The concerns have been supported by the National security council Secretariat, who also think that ‘zoom call’ poses a threat to our national security.
There are many apps that are very popular in India and are thus widely used, one such app is ‘Tik Tok’. Tik Tok is a video sharing app owned by ByteDance which is based in Beijing, founded in two thousand twelve by Zhang Yiming. Since the protest against Chinese products has risen we have witnessed many people in India going against Tik Tok and refusing to use the app. Bolo Indya and Roposo are the Indian rivals of the video making app Tik Tok.
Both of these apps are available on Google play store but only Roposo is available on the Apple app store for iPhone users. Bolo Indya a rather recent app is a short video app, unlike Roposo which has been there for quite some time now. The users on these can create videos, watch other videos, discover services as well as use them.
There are many languages available such as Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Bengali, Malayalam, Kannada, Marathi, Punjabi, and Odia. The size of the app is thirty-eight MP and has obtained four point six ratings on the play store. It has had over one lakh downloads. Similar to Tik Tok viewers here can shoot their videos in slo-mo, time-lapse, portrait with natural light, studio light, contour light as well as stage mono light.
The app enables its users to edit their videos, photos, as well as add the trending stickers of their choice. There are a variety of filters available on the app which can be applied by the users on their photos or videos.
These security issues on Chinese apps are not a new thing. There have been many cases when the Chinese apps on both Android as well as iOS have invaded the privacy of their users as well as affected the users with spyware or malware.
There are many other Chinese apps on Android and iOS that might be able to threaten the security of their users.
LIst of CHINESE APPS
- 360 Security
- APUS Browser
- Baidu Map
- Baidu Translate
- BeautyPlus
- Bigo Live
- CacheClear
- DU apps studio
- Clash of Kings
- Clean Master –
- Cheetah ClubFactory
- CM Browser
- DU Battery Saver
- DU Browser
- DU Cleaner
- DU Privacy
- DU recorder
- ES File Explorer
- Helo
- Kwai
- LIKE
- Mail Master
- Mi Community
- Mi Store
- Mi Video call-
- Xiaomi
- NewsDog
- Parallel Space
- Perfect Corp
- Photo Wonder
- QQ International
- QQ Launcher
- QQ Mail
- QQ Music
- QQ NewsFeed
- QQ Player
- QQ Security Centre
- ROMWE
- SelfieCity
- SHAREit
- SHEIN
- UC Browser
- UC News
- Vault-Hide
- Vigo Video
- Virus Cleaner (Hi Security Lab)
- VivaVideo-
- QU Video Inc
- WeSync
- Wonder Camera
- Xender
- YouCam Makeup
This app like Shein is a very popular online shopping website and is widely used by people to purchase many products such as clothes, jewelry, and other accessories.
There has been a widespread outrage all over India regarding the boycotting of the Chinese products. Since the killing of twenty army soldiers and the distress on the line of actual control people of India have made a strong decision to cut off the ties with Chinese products and start replacing it with other products preferably the ones that are produced in India.
There has been seen as an effort to promote local goods and small manufacturers. Now the focus needs to be put on the fifty-two apps that have been red-flagged by the Indian Intel agencies.
These apps pose a major threat to the security of the people whose data is accessible once they have downloaded the apps. Security agencies have also reportedly asked the security personnel to refrain from using these apps due to the impact it could have the security of the data.
Other western agencies have also voiced their concerns on the Chinese hardware and software as they are thought to be manipulated by the Chinese regime in case of a conflict.
This threat to security has been under a vast discussion. They revealed the parameters and the risks that are related to each and every app is being carefully examined one by one.
In conclusion, I just want to put forward that just like the products we use by China are hard to get rid of since they are cheap, easily accessible and of course we are used to them. Similarly, expecting each and every person to instantly delete every app linked to China is very ambitious and a little unfair.
We need to give people the time to analyze the security issues, find alternatives to the apps, and then decide the next step that they would want to take. Of course, we all understand the threat to our own privacy but we also understand that small steps are the beginnings of going a long way.
This applies to the usage of these applications also. Security and privacy are always of the utmost importance of every individual but we should let one decide the steps they wish to take for themselves.
Informative and useful. Liked the crisp yet though information. Nice job writer.