Amidst the ongoing border tensions with Pakistan and now China, the Indian Army has decided to ban a total of 89 apps for the Army personnel on both Android and iOS platforms posing security threats. Though these apps would continue to remain accessible by civilians, the Army men will not be able to use these 89 apps henceforth. The Army has claimed that the “all-weather” friends have been trying to trouble India at the LOC and LAC.
Out of these 89 apps, most are Chinese mobile apps, which the Army believes are being used to send out important data and security information to China. Last month, Indian govt had banned 59 apps originating in China in the country.
Other than the Chinese apps, there are other few apps like Facebook, Instagram, Tinder, Tumblr, Reddit, Songs.pk etc which also the Army has banned. The Army has baned these non-Chinese apps for its personnel probably because some of these apps have been used for honey trapping in the past, and some apps have known security issues. Video conferencing app Zoom has also been banned, which has faced lots of privacy and security in recent times.
Social media apps like Facebook used by ISI operatives for honey trapping
It is pertinent to note here, that many incidents in the past have been reported where personnel of the Indian Armed forces have leaked sensitive information related to the Indian armed forces, after they were honey-trapped by the Pakistani ISI operatives on social media. These Pakistani handlers often pose as women and use apps like Facebook and Tinder to honey trap the Indian Army and Navy personnel to take out sensitive information from them.
After one such case, where 13 people including 11 Navy personnel arrested on espionage charges in February this year, the Indian Navy had imposed a strict ban on the use of smartphones and social media applications such as Facebook by its personnel.
The list of 89 banned apps by the Indian Army
The list of all these 89 apps which the Indian Army has decided to ban are:
WeChat
QQ
Kik
ooVoo
Nimbuzz
Helo
Qzone
Share Chat
Viber
Line
IMO
Snow
To Tok
Hike
TikTok
Likee
Samosa
Kwali
Shareit
Xender
Zapya
UC Browser
UC Browser Mini
LiveMe
BigoLive
Zoom
Fast Films
Vmate
Uplive
Vigo Video
Cam Scanner
Beauty Plus
True Caller
PUBG
NONO Live
Clash of Kings
All Tencent gaming apps
Mobile Legends
Club Factory
AliExpress
Chinabrands
Gearbest
Banggood
MiniInTheBox
Tiny Deal
Dhhgate
LightinTheBox
DX
Eric Dress
Zaful
Tbdress
Modility
Rosegal
Shein
Romwe
Tinder
TrulyMadly
Happn
Aisle
Coffee Meets Bagel
Woo
OkCupid
Hinge
Badoo
Azar
Bumble
Tantan
Elite Sinles
Tagged
Couch Surfing
360 Security
Facebook
Baidu
Instagram
Ello
Snapchat
Daily Hunt
News Dog
Pratilipi
Heal of Y
POPXO
Vokal
Hungama
Songs.pk
Yelp
Tumblr
Reddit
FriendsFeed
Private Blogs
India bans 59 Chinese apps
In the aftermath of the Galwan Valley standoff, the Indian Government had banned TikTok and 58 other Chinese apps, saying they engage in activities that threaten Indian national sovereignty, integrity and defence. The ministry in its press release said that it has recently been receiving complaints from various sources including several reports about the 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 a location outside India. The compilation of these data poses which threat to national security and sovereignty and is a matter of deep concern said the statement.
