Popular Chinese apps like Tiktok, Aliexpress and WeChat are once again in controversies. Austrian privacy AdvocC Group Noyb has filed a serious complaint against these three apps in the European Union (EU). These apps are accused of stealing personal data from users and violating EU’s data privacy standards.
Not data download facility, accused of privacy violation
The complaint states that Tiktok, Aliexpress and WeChat do not give their users any option to reach or download their personal data, while it is necessary under EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). According to GDPR, any user has the right to access and download their data.
Chinese apps also accused of sending data to China
NOYB has claimed that these Chinese companies are illegally transferring the data of users, which can threaten users’ privacy. The group has filed a complaint against a total of 6 Chinese apps and also said that many of these apps are collecting their personal data without the consent of users.
Europe may also be banned after legal action
If these allegations are found to be correct in the investigation, then EU can ban these apps. This decision can affect millions of users from European countries, which use these apps. In the past, a complaint has been filed against American tech companies like Noyb, Apple and Google in privacy cases.
These apps are banned in India since 2020
It is worth noting that many Chinese apps including Tiktok, Aliexpress, WeChat have been banned in India since June 2020. The Government of India had banned more than 59 Chinese apps keeping in mind the national security and data privacy. Since then these apps are not available in India.