54 Chinese apps banned in India including Garena Free Fire, AppLock! Check full list of banned apps here
The government has banned as many as 54 Chinese apps citing security threat to India. The list of banned Chinese apps includes the very popular Garena Free Fire and AppLock. As per a statement by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (Meity), "MeitY received request for the blocking of 54 Chinese Apps from MHA under the emergency provision envisaged in Section 69(A) of the IT Act." As per the report shared by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) these Chinese apps are either the cloned version or having similar functionalities, privacy issue and security threats as was the case in the previously blocked 267 apps by the government in the year 2020.
It can be known that the Indian government initially blocked 59 apps on 29 June 2020 followed by 47 related/cloning apps on 10 August 2020, thereafter 118 apps were blocked on September 1, 2020 and later 43 apps were blocked on November 19, 2020.
As per the information these 54 apps allegedly obtain various critical permissions and collect sensitive user data. These collected real-time data are being misused and transmitted to servers located in hostile country.
In addition there are other serious concerns as some of these apps can carry outEspionage and Surveillance activities via camera/mic, accessing fine location (GPS) and do malicious network activity similar to previously blocked apps. Therefore, MeitY has issued Interim directions for the blocking of 54 Chinese Apps in India.
1. Garena Free Fire – Illuminate
2. Beauty Camera: Sweet Selfie HD
3. Beauty Camera - Selfie Camera
4. Equalizer -- Bass Booster & Volume EQ &Virtualizer
5. Music Player- Music,Mp3 Player
6. Equalizer & Bass Booster - Music Volume EQ
7. Music Plus - MP3 Player
8. Equalizer Pro - Volume Booster
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