Dailyhunt, Sharechat among 89 apps banned by Army

Dailyhunt, Sharechat among 89 apps banned by Army

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi:  10.07.2020

The list of 89 apps that the Army has ordered all officers and soldiers to delete (reported in Thursday’s edition of TOI) include news aggregator Dailyhunt, social network Sharechat, and entertainment application Hungama.

These apps — besides social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat and games such as PUBG — were not part of the 59 apps banned by the government last week.

The apps banned by the ministry of electronics and information technology (MeitY) like TikTok, We-Chat, UC Browser and NewsDog last week were completely or majority -owned by Chinese individuals or corporations. The Army’s ban includes companies based across the world, from the US (Facebook, Snapchat, Zoom) to Sweden (Truecaller).

The more expansive list from the Army comes amid rising concerns around honey-trapping and data misuse. In a lot of these apps the location of the user may be available, which may be risky when defence personnel are serving on the border or in sensitive locations. Sources said the Army has been concerned about the unintentional flow of information from its personnel.

“It is an area of concern and the orders have been issued from the perspective of driving a sense of discipline within the forces when it comes to their presence online,” an industry analyst, working with one of the country’s top firms, said on condition of anonymity.

The Army’s decision comes nearly a week after the Indian government ordered the blocking of 59 Chinese apps for “engaging in activities which are prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of state and public order”.

An Army convoy carrying goods moves towards Leh on Thursday

In a lot of these apps the location of the user may be available, which may be risky when defence personnel are serving on the border or in sensitive locations