Taiwanese intelligence agencies have issued warnings about China-developed applications, pointing to serious privacy and security vulnerabilities. A recent probe led by the National Security Bureau, alongside the Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau and the Criminal Investigation Bureau, took a close look at platforms such as RedNote (also known as Xiaohongshu), Weibo, TikTok, WeChat, and Baidu Cloud, all of which were found to pose potential risks to users in Taiwan.
During the assessment, officials found that several apps were quietly collecting extensive amounts of user data and routing it to destinations in mainland China. The review examined various problem areas, including the amount of personal information collected, the types of permissions requested by the apps, how they managed outbound data, the system-level content they accessed, and whether they utilized biometric features.
One app, RedNote, set off all the alerts across the board. Others like Weibo and TikTok came close behind, each showing problems in thirteen areas. WeChat and Baidu Cloud also raised concerns, reporting a total of ten and nine issues, respectively. The types of information accessed included user location, face scans, copied text, contact lists, and even what was visible on the screen, most of it taken without users realizing what was happening. Several were also found retrieving lists of installed apps and detailed device specifications.
The NSB emphasized that all five apps send user data to servers located within mainland China, raising concerns about potential third-party misuse, particularly since Chinese law requires companies to hand over user information upon request by state agencies for national security or intelligence purposes.
Amid rising global scrutiny, few other nations have also taken steps against Chinese software. India has banned many such apps, and in late 2024, Canada ordered TikTok to shut down operations. The U.S. has repeatedly delayed a similar move. German regulators have recently attempted to remove the AI chatbot DeepSeek from app stores due to privacy violations.
The NSB has urged the public to avoid installing these apps to safeguard personal privacy and sensitive corporate data.
