New Delhi, June 30 (IANS) Chinese short-video making app TikTok on Tuesday said it is in the process of complying with the Indian government order to ban 59 Chinese apps, including TikTok, and is not sharing any data of Indian users with the Chinese government. The Indian government on Monday banned apps like TikTok, WeChat, UC Browser and Xiaomi's Mi Community over national security concerns as India-China bilateral relations remain strained after the death of 20 Indian soldiers in the Galwan Valley clash with Chinese PLA troops in eastern Ladakh. "The government of India has issued an interim order for the blocking of 59 apps, including TikTok and we are in the process of complying with it," Nikhil Gandhi, Head of TikTok India, said in a statement, adding that the company has been invited to meet with concerned government stakeholders for an opportunity to respond and submit clarifications. "TikTok continues to comply with all data privacy and security requirements under Indian law and have not shared any information of our users in India with any foreign government, including the Chinese Government," Gandhi explained. The app disappeared from both Google Play Store and Apple App Store on Tuesday. There was no official communication from Google or Apple on its removal from their respective stores. ByteDance-owned TikTok said that it places the highest importance on user privacy and integrity. "TikTok has democratized the internet by making it available in 14 Indian languages, with hundreds of millions of users, artists, story-tellers, educators and performers depending on it for their livelihood, many of whom are first-time internet users," said Gandhi. The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) on Monday issued a list of 59 Chinese apps that are now banned in the country. "These measures have been undertaken since there is credible information that these apps are engaged in activities which are prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of state and public order," said a MeitY statement. The ministry received complaints from various sources including several reports about misuse of some mobile apps available on Android and iOS platforms for stealing and surreptitiously transmitting users' data in an unauthorised manner to servers which have locations outside India. The MeitY said the move will safeguard the interests of crores of Indian mobile users. Other Chinese apps in the banned list are Club Factory, SHAREit, Likee, Mi Video Call (Xiaomi), Weibo, Baidu, Bigo Live and others. --IANS na/

Will comply with India ban, not sharing users' data with China: TikTok

New Delhi, June 29 (IANS) The Indian government on Monday banned nearly 59 Chinese apps including TikTok, WeChat and UC Browser and Xiaomi's Mi Community over national security concerns as India-China bilateral relations remain strained after the death of 20 Indian soldiers in the Galwan Valley clash with Chinese PLA troops in eastern Ladakh. The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has issued a list of 59 Chinese apps that are now banned in the country. "These measures have been undertaken since there is credible information that these apps are engaged in activities which are prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of state and public order," said a MeitY statement. The ministry received complaints from various sources including several reports about misuse of some mobile apps available on Android and iOS platforms for stealing and surreptitiously transmitting users' data in an unauthorised manner to servers which have locations outside India. "The compilation of these data, its mining and profiling by elements hostile to national security and defence of India, which ultimately impinges upon the sovereignty and integrity of India, is a matter of very deep and immediate concern which requires emergency measures," the statement read. The MeitY said the move will safeguard the interests of crores of Indian mobile users. "There have been raging concerns on aspects relating to data security and safeguarding the privacy of 130 crore Indians. It has been noted recently that such concerns also pose a threat to sovereignty and security of our country," said the government. Other Chinese apps in the banned list are Club Factory, SHAREit, Likee, Mi Video Call (Xiaomi), Weibo, Baidu, Bigo Live and more. Earlier this month, Indian intelligence agencies red flagged these Chinese apps over safety and privacy issues of users. The government needs to either block access to these apps or advise people to stop their use, according to the intel inputs, said the agencies. The report comes amid growing chorus from Indian activists to boycott Chinese products due to the border tensions between the two countries in Ladakh. The recommendations of the intelligence agencies have backing of the National Security Council Secretariat which determined that certain China-linked applications could be detrimental to the country's security, said the report citing an unnamed government official. --IANS na/kr

India bans 59 Chinese apps over national security concerns

New Delhi, June 30 (IANS) After India directed blocking of 59 Chinese apps, some of India's top legal experts have asked what the government plans to do about hundreds and thousands of Chinese mobile phones being used by Indians and the CCTV cameras installed in both the corporate sector and the government agencies, which could potentially be transmitting data of Indians outside the country. The IT Ministry on Monday issued an interim order to block 59 Chinese apps, including TikTok, under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act, 2000. The apps have been directed to be banned on the grounds that they have been trying to impact the "sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of state and public order". "Banning or blocking apps is only a starting point, not the endgame journey. A lot of steps will have to be taken. There are a huge number of Chinese mobile phones which are being used by Indians and they continue to transmit data outside India, particularly to China," Pavan Duggal, one of the nation's top cyber law experts, told IANS. "Further a lot of Chinese CCTV cameras and other devices are installed both in corporate sectors and also in governmental agencies. Their use in terms of the collection of data and their transmission of data to China need to be reconsidered," he said, adding that India must come up with a strong cogent methodologies and process to protect Indian sovereign interest in cyberspace. According to Virag Gupta, a lawyer who is arguing the case in Supreme Court for data localisation in India, said the decision to block 59 apps will go a long way in shaping "our future plan of action against Internet giants"."Obviously, there will be challenges to implement this decision, but we can call it a digital surgical strike against global powers with colonial mindsets," he said. As India is a democratic country unlike China, a party aggrieved by the government's decision can challenge the action under the current legal framework. Once the law provides the remedy of an appeal to an affected party, the party will have to show that it is not misusing the data of Indian users, and similarly, the government will also be called upon to show what relevant material led to the conclusion that such kinds of apps impact the sovereignty, security and integrity of India, Duggal said. Besides TikTok, the banned apps include SHAREit, Helo, WeChat, UC Browser and Xiaomi's Mi Community, among others. Following the ban, TikTok said in a statement that it places "the highest importance on user privacy and integrity." Asserting that it has not shared any information of its users in India with any foreign government, including the Chinese government, the ByteDance-owned short video-sharing platform promised that even if it is requested to share information of Indian users by the Chinese government in the future, it would not do so. But under the Chinese cybersecurity law, the government has the power to ask for any information pertaining to the sovereign interest of the country or pertaining to public order from any company which is located in China, Duggal said. "The said companies are duty-bound to share that information. If they do not share that information with the Chinese authorities, it actually becomes an offence under the Chinese law," he said. "So whenever any Chinese company says that it is not sharing any data of Indians with Chinese agencies, I think it will be further called upon to show how it will be going ahead in complying with applicable national laws and how it will be further ensuring that the said information will not be shared in the future," Duggal said. According to Mishi Choudhary, a technology lawyer and an online civil liberties activist, India's move to ban 59 Chinese apps underscores that the cyber world and the Internet are part of the geopolitics and are not some distant matter left to the techies. "We must have a robust cyber peace or war policy that addresses our national security concerns and presents a well thought through, rights respecting policy in sharp contrast to an authoritarian regime like China," she said. As Nagpur-based lawyer Vinod Tiwari pointed out, if the interim order is confirmed, accessing these 59 apps will be an issue only within the territorial boundaries of India. Duggal also pointed out that the government of India has got the power under Section 87 of the Information Technology Act, 2000, to come up with specific due diligence parameters for app developers and app service providers. "However, no such due diligence parameters have been given to app service providers so far," he said. (Gokul Bhagabati can be contacted at gokul.b@ians.in) --IANS gb/arm

After app ban, experts ask what about Chinese phones?

The <keyword id="6354416" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Indian-Army">Indian Army</keyword> has asked all its personnel and soldiers to remove 89 apps by July 15 owing to the national security risks. The list not only have Chinese apps that have already been banned by the government like TikTok but also carries US-based platforms like <keyword id="6354576" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="facebook">Facebook</keyword>, Instagram, Snapchat, Zoom, <keyword id="1106616" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="TrueCaller">Truecaller</keyword>, Reddit and more. The 89 apps have <keyword id="2290246" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="social-media-accounts">social media accounts</keyword>, content sharing apps, short video making apps, e-commerce and dating sites like songs.pk, WeChat, Hike, Likee, Shareit, PUBG and Tinder, etc. "The existing accounts are required to be deleted and not left deactivated. Any service persons found on Facebook/using banned sites post-July 15 will be reported," according to the sources in the Indian Army. The decision has apparently been taken in order to stop sensitive information from going out the country. India has already banned 59 Chinese apps, including TikTok, saying these apps opened the way for "elements hostile to national security and defence" to exploit them to "ultimately impinge upon the sovereignty and integrity of India". US Secretary of <keyword id="9241528" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="state-mike-pompeo">State Mike Pompeo</keyword> has said that Washington was looking at banning Chinese social media apps, including TikTok. In a <keyword id="85287" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Fox-News">Fox News</keyword> interview on Monday, Pompeo said that "we're taking this very seriously". SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/politics/world/news/harvard-and-mit-are-suing-ice-to-block-its-order-forcing-international-students-to-leave-the-us-if-their-course-is-online-only/articleshow/76856699.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink">Harvard, MIT, and Northeastern University are suing ICE to block its order forcing international students to leave the US if their course is online-only</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/markets/news/sbi-card-share-price-has-surged-by-40-inching-closer-to-its-issue-price-of-755/articleshow/76853803.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink">SBI Card has surged 40% as lockdown blues blow over ⁠— but those who got shares in the IPO are still in the red</a>

Indian Army bans 89 apps for its personnel, including Facebook, TikTok, Truecaller, Instagram, Tinder, PUBG

Facing a nationwide ban in the US, Chinese short-form video making platform <keyword id="6762469" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="tiktok" source="Orion">TikTok</keyword> still have access to "troves of personal data of Indian citizens" who once used the app before it was banned in June 2020 by the Indian government over national security concerns along with several other Chinese apps. According to a report in Forbes, the data of Indian users "remain widely accessible to employees at the company and its Beijing-based parent ByteDance". Before the ban, TikTok had about 150 million monthly active users in the country. "I don't think Indians are aware of how much of their data is exposed to China right now, even with the ban in place," a current TikTok employee told Forbes. Almost anyone at the companies with basic access to their tools can retrieve and analyse granular data about past TikTok users in <keyword id="3658" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="india" source="Orion">India</keyword>, "including everyone from prominent public figures to the average person". ByteDance has more than 110,000 employees around the world, including in China, the US and Russia. In a statement, a TikTok spokesperson said they "have steadfastly complied, and continue to remain in full compliance, with the government of India order since it was implemented". "All user data is subject to our robust internal policy controls surrounding access, retention, and deletion," the company spokesperson was quoted as saying. This powerful demographic data, especially on TikTok's unmatched Gen Z userbase, could also be highly valuable for commercial purposes, the report said, quoting the TikTok employee. The Chinese short video-making app sacked its entire India staff -- about 40 employees - in February. Chinese short video-making app TikTok has sacked its entire India staff -- about 40 employees -- and February 28 will be their last working day. The ByteDance-owned platform reportedly told its employees they would receive up to nine months of severance package. However, most of the staff will only get three-month severance. In a statement to IANS, a company spokesperson had said that "we have taken the decision to close our India remote sales support hub, which was put in place at the end of 2020 to provide support to our global and regional sales teams". "We greatly appreciate these employees and their impact on our company, and will ensure they are supported at this difficult time," the TikTok spokesperson added. In June 2020, the government banned TikTok along with 59 other Chinese apps citing security concerns. Since then, the country has banned over 300 Chinese apps, including <keyword id="1160904" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="wechat" source="Orion">WeChat</keyword>, Shareit, <keyword id="3155481" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="helo" source="Orion">Helo</keyword>, Likee, UC News, <keyword id="4883373" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="bigo-live" source="Orion">Bigo Live</keyword>, UC Browser and many more. The Centre in February blocked over 230 apps, including 138 betting and about 94 loan apps, which were traced to Chinese links. SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/top-10-billionaires-who-lost-the-most-wealth-globally-in-last-one-year/slidelist/98911396.cms">Top 10 billionaires to have lost the most wealth in the last year as per Hurun Rich List</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india/news/indias-growth-to-mirror-chinas-trajectory-over-next-decade-with-private-consumption-more-than-doubling-to-4-5-trn/articleshow/98912119.cms">India’s growth to mirror China’s trajectory over next decade with private consumption more than doubling to $4.5 trn</a>

Chinese app TikTok still has troves of personal data of Indians: Report

San Francisco/New Delhi, Taking India's example of banning more than 200 Chinese <keyword id="6354741" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Apps">apps</keyword>, US President <keyword id="6354484" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Donald-Trump">Donald Trump</keyword> has signed a new executive order that blocks transactions with Chinese companies running eight apps, including Jack Ma-owned Ant Group's Alipay, Tencent's QQ and <keyword id="1160904" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="WeChat">WeChat</keyword> Pay <keyword id="6371395" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="applications">applications</keyword>. Transactions will be prohibited in 45 days, said the order. Other apps include CamScanner, QQ Wallet, SHAREit, Tencent QQ, VMate, WeChat Pay, and <keyword id="2763436" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="wps-office">WPS Office</keyword> -- which are already banned in India. "The Government of India has banned the use of more than 200 Chinese connected software applications throughout the country; in a statement, India's Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology asserted that the applications were stealing and surreptitiously transmitting users' data in an unauthorised manner to servers which have locations outside India," <keyword id="6354862" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="trump">Trump</keyword> wrote in his new executive order. The new executive order follows two earlier ones from Trump in August last year where he tried to ban transactions with <keyword id="3749909" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Bytedance">ByteDance</keyword>, TikTok's parent company, and WeChat. However, a judge blocked the WeChat ban in September and in October, a judge granted a preliminary injunction stopping the TikTok ban in December. "The pace and pervasiveness of the spread in the United States of certain connected mobile and desktop applications and other software developed or controlled by persons in the People's Republic of China, to include Hong Kong and Macau (China), continue to threaten the <keyword id="113687" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="national-security">national security</keyword>, foreign policy, and economy of the United States," the executive order further read. "The US must take aggressive action against those who develop or control Chinese connected software applications to protect our national security." The Trump order said that "the continuing activity of the PRC and the CCP to steal or otherwise obtain United States persons' data makes clear that there is an intent to use bulk data collection to advance China's economic and national security agenda". On June 29 last year, the government banned 59 Chinese apps in the first lot, including TikTok, WeChat, UC Browser and Xiaomi's Mi Community, over national security concerns amid the border tussle in Eastern Ladakh which led to the death of 20 Indian soldiers in a bloody clash with Chinese PLA troops in the Galwan Valley in June 2020. Other Chinese apps in the banned list were Club Factory, SHAREit, Likee, Mi Video Call (Xiaomi), Weibo, Baidu, BIGO LIVE and more. In July, the government barred 47 Chinese apps from operating in the country, which were largely clones of the 59 apps that were banned in June. The Indian government on September 2 banned 118 apps on national security concerns, including the immensely popular PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds (PUBG) Mobile, Baidu and couple of virtual private networks that allowed access to TikTok that was banned earlier. Continuing with its ban orders on Chinese apps, the Indian government in November blocked 43 new mobile apps, including shopping website AliExpress owned by e-commerce behemoth Alibaba. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/science/health/news/here-are-the-top-10-virus-and-diseases-that-could-cause-the-next-pandemic-if-they-arent-stopped-in-their-tracks/slidelist/80116787.cms">Diseases deadlier than COVID-19 are already in the making — here are the top ten candidates that could cause the next pandemic</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/analysts-explain-why-burger-king-and-mrs-bectors-shares-fell-with-a-thud-and-what-to-do-now/articleshow/80120941.cms">Analysts explain why Burger King and Mrs Bector’s shares fell with a thud — and what to do now</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/top-stocks-to-watch-bajaj-finance-hdfc-bank-beml-indigo-godrej-consumer-hero-moto-and-others/articleshow/80126217.cms">Top stocks to watch — Bajaj Finance, HDFC Bank, BEML, IndiGo, Godrej Consumer, Hero Moto, and others</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/boat-raises-over-100-million-from-warburg-pincus-analysts-expect-the-headphone-brand-to-double-its-revenue-to-10-billion-this-financial-year/articleshow/80126200.cms">boAt raises over $100 million from Warburg Pincus — analysts expect the headphone brand to double its revenue to ₹10 billion this financial year</a>

After India, US President Donald Trump blocks eight Chinese apps including Alipay, WeChat Pay and Tencent's QQ

NEW DELHI: <keyword id="6063393" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="the-national-highways-authority-of-india">The National Highways Authority of India</keyword> (NHAI) on Monday said a <keyword id="108450" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="cyber-attack">cyber attack</keyword> took place on its <keyword id="3352615" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="email-server">email server</keyword> on Sunday night but prompt action resulted in no data loss. As a precaution, the Authority had shut down the server. "A ransom ware attack on NHAI email server took place yesterday night. The attack was foiled by the <keyword id="480534" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="security-system">security system</keyword> and email servers were shut down from safety point of view," NHAI Chief General Manager, IT, Akhilesh Srivastava, said. The system is restored now, Srivastava added. "No data loss took place. NHAI data lake and other systems remained unaffected from this attack," he said. The government had warned against a large-scale cyber attack against individuals and businesses earlier this month. India's cyber security nodal agency, CERT-In had issued an advisory warning that the potential <keyword id="6359049" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="phishing">phishing</keyword> attacks could impersonate government agencies, departments and trade bodies that have been tasked to oversee disbursement of government fiscal aid. The NHAI has been mandated the task to develop, maintain and manage National Highways, the arterial roads of the country, for inter-state movement of passengers and goods. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india/news/tiktok-shareit-uc-browser-club-factory-among-59-chinese-apps-banned-by-the-indian-government/articleshow/76694483.cms">TikTok, ShareIt, UC Browser, Club Factory among 59 Chinese apps banned by the Indian government</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/apps/news/tiktok-has-been-removed-from-the-google-play-store-and-the-apple-app-store/articleshow/76702533.cms">TikTok disappears from Play Store and App Store soon after India banned 59 Chinese apps</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india/news/pm-narendra-modi-will-address-the-nation-at-4-pm-tomorrow/articleshow/76696511.cms">All eyes on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's address at 4 PM today</a>

NHAI email server shut down after cyber attack

New Delhi, June 29 (IANS) After the Indian government banned 59 Chinese apps over national security concerns, desi app developers on Monday hailed the move, saying this will help the Indian app ecosystem prosper. The Indian government banned popular Chinese apps like TikTok, WeChat, UC Browser and Xiaomi's Mi Community and more to safeguard the interests of crores of Indian mobile users. "This is a welcome move from the government against platforms that have had serious privacy, cyber security and national security risks. We expect the government to continue their support for the Indian startup ecosystem," Berges Malu, Director, Public Policy, ShareChat, told IANS. ShareChat is an Indian video creation app similar to short-video making app Tiktok. The app allows users to communicate and interact with other users on the platform. ShareChat currently serves more than 60 million monthly active users in 15 different Indian languages. Most of its active users hail from tier-2 and tier-3 cities (like TikTok), with the majority of them relying on 2G networks. Naveen Tewari, Founder and CEO, InMobi Group said that this is the digital 'Aatma Nirbhar' moment that most Indians have been rooting for. "As the number one top video app on the Google Play Store, Roposo is very well positioned to lead this movement. Roposo will continue to build on the trust and love that 55 million Indian users have placed in us," said Tewari. The government banned the Chinese apps after it received complaints from various sources including several reports about misuse of some mobile apps available on Android and iOS platforms for stealing and surreptitiously transmitting users' data in an unauthorised manner to servers which have locations outside India. "Banning Chinese apps is a great initiative to ensure privacy of the Indian users' data and to protect the country against the potential threat these apps pose to our national security," said Piyush, CEO &amp; Founder, Rooter. "The Indian technology ecosystem has come a long way in the last 5-6 years and is at par with the capabilities of any other startup ecosystem in the world," he added. Other Chinese apps in the banned list are Club Factory, SHAREit, Likee, Mi Video Call (Xiaomi), Weibo, Baidu, Bigo Live and more. --IANS na/vd

You Searched For "shareit banned" and got 8 results

Will comply with India ban, not sharing users' data with China: TikTok

IANS

India bans 59 Chinese apps over national security concerns

IANS

After app ban, experts ask what about Chinese phones?

IANS

Indian Army bans 89 apps for its personnel, including Facebook, TikTok, Truecaller, Instagram, Tinder, PUBG

IANS

Chinese app TikTok still has troves of personal data of Indians: Report

IANS

After India, US President Donald Trump blocks eight Chinese apps including Alipay, WeChat Pay and Tencent's QQ

IANS

NHAI email server shut down after cyber attack

PTI

It is digital 'Aatma Nirbhar' moment: Indian app makers

IANS