China tech crackdown: Beijing declares initial victory in cleaning up mobile apps
- The country’s internet watchdog has reviewed more than 1,000 apps for data privacy violations, says government report
- The government’s increased scrutiny of smartphone apps have created uncertainties for tech firms that run some of China’s most popular online platforms
The Chinese government’s ambitious campaign to review the country’s 1.12 million mobile apps has yielded initial results, with problematic apps being removed and the country’s new data laws being implemented, a new government report said.
The Cybersecurity Administration of China (CAC), China’s top internet watchdog, has tested 1,425 popular apps since the beginning of 2021, according to a report published on Thursday by the National Computer Network Emergency Response Technical Team (CNCERT). A total of 351 apps have been told to correct “serious violations of laws and regulations”.
Tencent and Alibaba apps ordered to correct mistakes as crackdown rolls on
While CNCERT describes itself as a “non-governmental non-profit” entity focused on the technicalities of cybersecurity, a job posting on their website in 2019 said the organisation sits “directly under” the CAC. The Cybersecurity Association of China, an industry group that reports to the CAC, also took part in writing the report.
The CAC has targeted problems such as the forcible collection of unnecessary personal information, the lack of a privacy policy, and the practice of asking for bundled consent – meaning that users are presented with several requests together without the option of choosing which ones to accept or reject.
WeChat, China’s ubiquitous multipurpose app, and 51job, a job searching app, are among many popular apps that have corrected the problem of demanding unnecessary access to personal information, according to the report. In the past three months, an average of nearly 1,000 new apps were added each month to major app stores run by smartphone makers Huawei Technologies Co, Xiaomi, Vivo and Oppo, the report said.
This comes amid an expansive government clampdown on the country’s internet sector, which has seen Big Tech companies being targeted for perceived problems including monopolistic behaviour, as well as bad data privacy and security practices.
The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), China’s telecoms regulator that oversees network connection and market access, has intensified its scrutiny of data privacy, although the CNCERT report made no mention of the ministry’s regulatory efforts.
China orders app stores to remove liberal online forum Douban
On Thursday, the MIIT ordered 106 apps, including popular online discussion platform Douban, to be taken down from app stores in China. The agency said that the apps, which also include the country’s leading karaoke app Changba and electronics recycling service Aihuishou, had previously been named and shamed for misconduct such as collecting excessive user data but did not properly correct their problems as required.
Some users, though, expressed suspicion over the true motive behind the removal of Douban, which hosted a number of China’s most well-known feminist groups before they were pressured to close earlier this year.
Last month, the MIIT said at a press conference that it had exerted “high pressure” on app makers, tested 2.44 million apps, named and shamed more than 2,000 apps for violations, and ordered 540 apps to be removed from app stores.
According to the CNCERT report, 95 per cent of available apps in China have fewer than 1 million users, many of them inadequately protected from data privacy violations. The report called for app stores to fulfil their responsibilities and improve the screening of apps that they list.
