Chinese apps are threatening India’s national security

We are living in a brisk-paced and heavily reticulated world where mobile devices not only aid communication but also play the role of a personal assistants. Artificial intelligence has done all this and this may be just the beginning with the likes of “Siri” and “Bixby” becoming best friends to millions of us. Any information is available in a matter of seconds with a click, dab, swipe or just a voice command. There are thousands of utility softwares and mobile applications in the internet space to get any job done. While mobile applications are digital revolution, growing dependence on these apps could pose a threat, including to national security. We, as a nation, have to be cautious about the usage of these apps from the perspective of both privacy and national security.

How many times during installation of an app does an unsuspecting user allow to access location, media files, microphones, messages, contacts or the call history? More importantly can one use the app seamlessly without giving these access rights? These are pertinent questions to ask for maintaining a right to our privacy. Apparently some apps illegally monitor phone calls without telling the user. It does not come as a surprise when someone blogs about a bizarre experience with a news aggregator app. This person, on his mobile phone, mentioned about buying strawberries. The next time he opens the app, he sees news and advertisements  about strawberries. 

In this context, one has to dig deep into the nuances of privacy rights to identify the thin line between legitimate data mining and illegal data fishing or snooping. It may not be illegal for Facebook or Google to throw up custom feeds based on user preferences or demographic, behavioural and psychographic information that emanates from the devices or for companies/media planners who pay Facebook or Google for profiling or sharp targeting of such consumers. However, the issue of legality arises when default setting on a mobile-money app automatically enrolls customers in a credit-scoring scheme without the consent. It is even feared that numerous android or IOS apps developed by Chinese developers or having Chinese links are spywares or other malicious ware in the garb of mobile applications. 

A total of 42 apps on both IOS and Android smartphone platforms are reportedly sending the user’s data back to servers in China and have the potential to carry out cyberattacks against Indians. India was listed in the seventh spot among targeted countries for web application attacks with over 53,000 cyberattacks, 40% of which were in the financial services domain. Personal details filled on these Chinese apps can easily fall into the hands of Chinese hackers who illegally use the data. Some of these Chinese apps have already been banned by the US and the Indian government seems to have taken proactive initiatives to follow suit. 

Usage of these apps by Indian Armed Forces personnel can be detrimental to data security and can have serious implications on our defence establishments. Our national security can be compromised in case any information is obtained by Chinese hackers as they can use the information in ways beyond our imagination. This isn’t the first time that red flags have been raised over defence forces being targeted by Chinese hackers. India faced its biggest cyberattack in 2012 when the Indo-Tibetan Border Police was compromised and the attack was tracked to North Korea. A phishing attack, also in 2012 had compromised the Special Protection Group as then prime minister Dr Manmohan Singh’s travel plans to Bangkok in June had been leaked. In 2017, the Centre had issued an advisory which asked personnel in the Indian army and paramilitary to uninstall several Chinese origin apps. Additionally, a while back, even some internet modems were listed with the suspicion of malicious activities of the gadgets.

While many of these apps are very useful in our daily rigmarole, what if the national security advisors tell us they are a security threat? While refraining from using these apps may be a difficult indulgence, it may be worth uninstalling them out of sheer suspicion of national threat. This calls for significant national investment and awareness for creating robust electronic and cybersecurity infrastructure in India. It is hoped that the Government will soon broadcast announcements to pragmatically and proactively protect us from the unforeseen darkness.

The author is a lawyer and the views are personal