Canada on Monday banned Chinese messaging application WeChat and Russian antivirus program Kaspersky on government-issued mobile devices due to privacy and security risks, but said government information had not been compromised.

Tencent’s WeChat and Kaspersky’s suite of applications have been removed from government-issued mobile devices effective October 30, 2023. Going forward, users of these devices will be blocked from downloading the apps.

WeChat is the super app in China with over 1 billion monthly users, and is a ubiquitous part of daily life in China. You can essentially do everything through WeChat, which is convenient.

However, this convenience comes at a cost. WeChat has monopolized the market to the extent that users have little say in front of the app. Identity verification is mandatory, and the app can suspend accounts at any time. And WeChat has always had the support of the central government, receiving funding, and the government has often restricted or banned competing apps.

  • NightOwl@lemmy.oneEnglish
    25·
    8 months ago

    I’m surprised that government devices aren’t heavily locked down so users only have the bare minimum apps and lock installs. Even weirder that government officials would be allowed to use the device for personal use. That’s how I’d think work devices would be handled to try to reduce attack vectors.

    • krolden@lemmy.ml
      111·
      8 months ago

      Theres so many different government jobs that involve having a phone and not all of them have a budget for mobile device management solutions.

    • tioute@lemmy.worldOP
      65·
      8 months ago

      Agreed. These things should have never been allowed in the first place. And there’s soo many more Russian/Chinese apps that still need to be banned.