Bipartisan Senators Urge Apple, Google to Remove China-Owned VPN Apps
Udumbara
A bipartisan group of senators has called on Apple and Google to remove China-owned virtual private networks, or VPNs, from their app stores, warning that these apps pose a threat to U.S. national security because of their ties to China’s military.
In total, the research group identified 13 China-owned VPN apps in its June report.
The lawmakers also questioned why Apple and Google had been “profiting from these Chinese-owned apps,” pointing out that the apps included in-app purchases and subscriptions.
“As the United States works to respond to ongoing cyber intrusions by the PLA, including the Salt Typhoon hacks, it is unacceptable that your companies have allowed platforms with known links to the PLA to continue operating unimpeded across our cyberspace,” the lawmakers wrote, referring to China’s military, the People’s Liberation Army.
The Chinese regime’s cyber threat groups have repeatedly targeted the United States in recent years, with Volt Typhoon and Flax Typhoon targeting U.S. critical infrastructure and Salt Typhoon hitting U.S. telecommunication networks.
“Beyond the national security implications, the continued presence of these apps raises serious questions about Apple and Google’s carefully cultivated reputations for protecting users’ privacy,” the lawmakers wrote. “Yet lapses like the ones identified in this letter demonstrate that your company is failing users and the broader public.”
The report notes that nearly a third of the 3,200 apps missing from Apple’s China App Store were related to “hot button human rights topics targeted by China’s censors.”
The letter was co-signed by Sens. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.), Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), and Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.).
The lawmakers asked Apple and Google to answer several questions, including their reasons for offering these Chinese VPN apps on their app stores, the number of times these apps have been downloaded in the United States, and the verification processes they use for the companies operating them.
