China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said 43 apps (including WeChat) share users' contacts and geolocation with a third party. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of China has accused one of the country's main messengers - WeChat - and 42 other applications of illegal data transfer. Their parent companies will have to rectify the situation by August 25, Reuters reported. Chinese officials have been taking steps for months to limit the influence of tech giants in the country. In addition to WeChat, which is owned by Internet giant Tencent, Alibaba's reading app for Jack Ma, the online movie theater iQiyi and the travel app for Trip.com have also come under attack.
It follows from the published document that the applications illegally transferred the user's contact list and location data to third parties, and also harassed them through pop-up windows.
The developers have only a few days to rectify the situation. If this does not happen, MIIT plans to punish the companies in accordance with the current legislation. Officials from Alibaba, Tencent and other companies whose products are on the MIIT list have so far refrained from commenting on the matter.
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It follows from the published document that the applications illegally transferred the user's contact list and location data to third parties, and also harassed them through pop-up windows.
The developers have only a few days to rectify the situation. If this does not happen, MIIT plans to punish the companies in accordance with the current legislation. Officials from Alibaba, Tencent and other companies whose products are on the MIIT list have so far refrained from commenting on the matter.
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