China Tells Apple to Remove Ride-Hailing App Didi Chuxing From App Store for Data Violations

[MacRumors]

Apple has been informed by China's cyberspace regulator that it must remove the Didi Chuxing ride hailing app from the Chinese App Store following concerns about the Uber rival's possible misuse of personal data.

Apple CEO Tim Cook with Didi Chuxing president Jean Liu in 2016​

The app in question is owned by Didi Global, which Apple has $1 billion invested in. Bloomberg reports that the ban was announced on Sunday by the Cyberspace Administration of China, citing serious violations on the company's collection and usage of personal information, without going into detail.

The regulator on Sunday ordered Didi to rectify its problems following legal requirements and national standards, and take steps to protect the personal information of its users.

The decision means that Apple and other app store operators on other platforms will have to remove the Didi Chuxing from their listings. The "unusually swift" decision is said to have come just two days after the regulator said it was conducting a cybersecurity review of Didi Global Inc.

The ban was effective immediately, but users who downloaded the app before Sunday are still able to order rides and other services. Didi said it had already halted new user registrations as of July 3 and was now working to rectify its app in accordance with regulatory requirements.

Apple in 2016 invested $1 billion in the Chinese ride-hailing company. The move was described by CEO Tim Cook at the time as a "strategic investment" that would help Apple better understand the Chinese market. Following its investment, Apple was given a Didi Chuxing board seat.

It's unclear what impact the ban could have on Apple's stake in Didi, but the decision follows broader moves by Beijing to curb the influence of China's largest internet corporations and tighten the ownership of the personal data of hundreds of millions of users held by the likes of Alibaba, Tencent, and others.

Article Link: China Tells Apple to Remove Ride-Hailing App Didi Chuxing From App Store for Data Violations

 

[idmean]

In before the first Apple should defy Chinese law comment!

 

[ArPe]

US and European government should have the balls to tell Apple to remove Facebook, Clubhouse, Twitter, Parler, all these places full of theft, scams, lies. The worst people in the world using these apps to destroy the mind of so many people with no consequences and making money from it.

 

[Wildkraut]

Funny to see how Apple is now a victim of its own locked walled garden, with a open system this wouldn't have happened. Locked-in systems with a single point of failure gives shady governments the possibility to request app removals.

 

[gvanvoor]

I can't but wonder if the "misuse of personal data" can be interpreted as not enough sharing of the information with the Chinese government...

 

[Apple_Robert]

I can't but wonder if the "misuse of personal data" can be interpreted as not enough sharing of the information with the Chinese government...

Excellent point. Before people start bashing Apple and the App Store policy, it would behoove us all to wait on facts, instead of pointing the finger at Apple.

 

[abhibeckert]

The move was described by CEO ‌Tim Cook‌ at the time as a "strategic investment" that would help Apple better understand the Chinese market.

Well I'd sat they got what they paid for.

 

[singularity0993]

I can't but wonder if the "misuse of personal data" can be interpreted as not enough sharing of the information with the Chinese government..

Probably not. The Chinese regulators regularly conduct reviews on popular apps and remove them if they do not follow the guideline published by the administration.
The guideline defined a “minimum required data” for each app category, and apps in each category may not collect more than what is “minimally required”.

On the other hand, “Didi” is actually controlled by Tencent so….

 

[Psychicbob]

Key words: “Uber rival”

 

[Shirasaki]

I read this as a “joke”.
China does this as a mere showcase to their people “oh see? We care about your privacy”.

 

[Onexy]

China doesn’t care about privacy. This is purely political.

 

[Apple_Robert]

China doesn’t care about privacy. This is purely political.

China and privacy is an oxymoron.

 

[nikaru]

Since when the Chinese government is concerned about its citizen privacy? The issue appears to be that Didi denied to share data with the government agency and now suffers the consequences. It is absurd. China in general is absurd country. It is absolutely crazy that the soon to be the most powerful economy in the world, is communist regime led by a single party, without any form of elections or democracy. We definitely need Trump again.

 

[Psychicbob]

China and privacy is an oxymoron.

Actually, they keep citizens data private, to themselves

 

[racer1441]

How about telling the CCP to suck a big bag of crap?

 

[scaramoosh]

What Ricky Gervais said at the Golden Globes was so true.

 

[DakotaGuy]

In before the first Apple should defy Chinese law comment!

They should.

 

[Shirasaki]

Since when the Chinese government is concerned about its citizen privacy? The issue appears to be that Didi denied to share data with the government agency and now suffers the consequences. It is absurd. China in general is absurd country. It is absolutely crazy that the soon to be the most powerful economy in the world, is communist regime led by a single party, without any form of elections or democracy. We definitely need Trump again.

With all due respect, Trump would push the button for WW3 instead of punishing China and CCP. Regardless of how ruthless CCP is, Trump prolly will destroy USA in the process, If 6 Jan 2021 is any indication.

 

[julianchan123]

First the the Ant by Alibaba’s IPO failure, now Didi’s removal, it seems that big tech didn’t help out enough with CCP’s bankruptcy and got punished in CCP style.

 

[Khedron]

Excellent point. Before people start bashing Apple and the App Store policy, it would behoove us all to wait on facts, instead of pointing the finger at Apple.

Why? Apple has done nothing to suggest it will ever put principles before profits, especially when it comes to the Chinese market in particular.

 

[neuropsychguy]

With all due respect, Trump would push the button for WW3 instead of punishing China and CCP. Regardless of how ruthless CCP is, Trump prolly will destroy USA in the process, If 6 Jan 2021 is any indication.

You forgot your sarcasm tag.

 

[Shirasaki]

You forgot your sarcasm tag.

There is none to begin with.

 

[fischersd]

Funny to see how Apple is now a victim of its own locked walled garden, with a open system this wouldn't have happened. Locked-in systems with a single point of failure gives shady governments the possibility to request app removals.

Umm. You did see that it's "App Stores" - ie - Google will have to remove the app from their store in China as well.

 

[I7guy]

Excellent point. Before people start bashing Apple and the App Store policy, it would behoove us all to wait on facts, instead of pointing the finger at Apple.

That probably won’t happen, but details may be slow to emerge if ever.

 

[laptech]

China's CCP considers itself the only ones who are allowed to collect information on it's citizens and thus make it compulsory for any firm in China to give the CCP access to it's customer databases. Any company that defies this will be delt with. I therefore have no doubt the regulators are going after companies who do not allow the CCP direct access to their customer database.