The government of India has blocked 43 new Chinese mobile apps in the country, including shopping website AliExpress. The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology banned these mobile apps under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act. According to an official press release, the government said, "this action was taken based on the inputs regarding these apps for engaging in activities which are prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of state and public order." The order was issued based on comprehensive reports received from Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Center, Ministry of Home Affairs. The government had banned 59 apps on June 29, 2020, and on September 2 it had banned 118 more apps. Previously apps like TikTok, Bigo Live, PUBG Mobile, which were all very popular in India, were banned. Those apps were also banned under section 69A of the Information Technology Act. Here is a list of apps that have been blocked for access in India under today’s order AliSuppliers Mobile App Alibaba Workbench AliExpress - Smarter Shopping, Better Living Alipay Cashier Lalamove India - Delivery App Drive with Lalamove India Snack Video CamCard - Business Card Reader CamCard - BCR (Western) Soul- Follow the soul to find you Chinese Social - Free Online Dating Video App & Chat Date in Asia - Dating & Chat For Asian Singles WeDate-Dating App Free dating app-Singol, start your date! Adore App TrulyChinese - Chinese Dating App TrulyAsian - Asian Dating App ChinaLove: dating app for Chinese singles DateMyAge: Chat, Meet, Date Mature Singles Online AsianDate: find Asian singles FlirtWish: chat with singles Guys Only Dating: Gay Chat Tubit: Live Streams WeWorkChina First Love Live- super hot live beauties live online Rela - Lesbian Social Network Cashier Wallet MangoTV MGTV-HunanTV official TV APP WeTV - TV version WeTV - Cdrama, Kdrama&More WeTV Lite Lucky Live-Live Video Streaming App Taobao Live DingTalk Identity V Isoland 2: Ashes of Time BoxStar (Early Access) Heroes Evolved Happy Fish Jellipop Match-Decorate your dream island！ Munchkin Match: magic home building Conquista Online II In a statement, Dr Ajay Data, Founder and CEO, VideoMeet Pvt Ltd. parent company for VideoMeet App, said the Indian user base is also "supporting the authorities on this front due to the geopolitical tensions our country is facing, and the realisation of how data breaching can impact their businesses in long run has also strengthened". Welcoming the decision, he said this is "an opportune time for Indian tech and IT community, to work towards making India's IT framework more resilient. This support to homegrown apps will help us in going global. This is also great for the Atmanirbhar Bharat mission of Govt of India." READ | AliExpress to TikTok to PUBG Mobile: Full list of all Chinese apps banned in India so far Sumit Ghosh, CEO and co-founder of Chingari, said the ban is a "very smart move and sends out a clear message that Chinese apps can't use such tactics to engage in activities that are prejudicial to India's sovereignty". Aditya Narang, Co-founder & MD of cyber security firm SafeHouse Technologies, said the biggest security concern is that a lot of apps on your smartphones collect massive amounts of data which has nothing to do with the service it provides. "It takes several security-sensitive and intrusive permissions which the user doesn't understand but ends up agreeing to. As the threat to secure user data is increasing, users must make sure their mobile phones are protected, secured and encrypted." Varun Saxena, Founder and CEO of Bolo Indya, termed the move "yet another welcome move from the government to stand against Chinese apps that always have had serious privacy issues".
