App Bans and A Look Into Data

By Victoria Choi

Troy High School

With the start of a new year and the final few days of his term, 45th President Donald Trump signed an executive order banning transactions with eight Chinese apps: Alipay, Tencent QQ, CamScanner, SHAREit, VMate, QQ Wallet, WeChat Pay, and WPS Office. The ban will take effect 45 days after its issued date, with assertions that the apps threaten national security by capturing sensitive user data in connection to the Chinese government.

Especially with a shift towards a more technologically dependent lifestyle, it is important to take precautions with possible threats to personal data. The idea of a ban on apps is not a new one; on a smaller scale, companies such as Apple and Google have taken steps to remove apps that posed as possible security concerns. On a larger one, India has banned over 200 applications that were conflicting with the sovereignty, integrity, and defence of India within the past few months.

Similar applications have been known to capture and collect too much data, so a ban to ensure the safety of the people is a justified one. Eunice Kim, a junior from Cypress High School agrees: China’s surveillance state and data collection are not obscure topics and if apps are threatening national security, a ban is absolutely warranted.

However, considering the timeline of events, the executive order may not be a very effective one. The ban extends into a time period when Trump is out of office, with its future lying in the hands of 46th President, Joe Biden. In addition, a parallel can be found with Trump’s executive order banning TikTok in August 2020, presented with the same data security and privacy concerns. However, the number of people who use the social media app continues to grow, and Tiktok’s ban continues to get delayed.

Erin Choi, a junior from Orange Lutheran High School, also points out that the ban may have the unintended consequence of causing difficulty or confusion for those who rely on any of the eight apps. Even so, the preservation of privacy and need for security far outweigh convenience. E-commerce apps like the ones listed above have the ability to store directly identifiable information or indirectly identifiable information, such as date of birth or race. So as we utilize more and more online tools, we should always remember the importance of data privacy and security.