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WeChat Admits That It Gives Users' Personal Data To The Government

User data are expensive as they are interesting. People need to secure their personal information at all cause, especially when it comes to online communication and transaction.

But since most of people's online activities are controlled by commercial entities, they have no choice to trust and give in their personal data to them, hoping that they will protect the data at all cost.

While most others messaging apps are fighting to protect users' privacy, China's WeChat is doing the opposite.

The company confirmed that it is giving personal data to the Chinese government. In its updated privacy statement, WeChat declares that:

"We will generally only retain your Personal Information for so long as is necessary to fulfil the purposes for which it was collected, as set out under the "How We Use Your Information" section above. However, in the following circumstances, we may be required to retain, preserve or disclose your Personal Information for a longer period of time:

  • In order to comply with applicable laws or regulations;
  • In order to comply with a court order, subpoena or other legal process;
  • In response to a request by a government authority, law enforcement agency or similar body (whether situated in your jurisdiction or elsewhere);
  • Where we believe it is reasonably necessary to comply with applicable laws or regulations; or
  • In order to enforce the WeChat Terms of Service or this Privacy Policy, protect our rights, property or safety, or the rights, property or safety of our affiliate companies or other users of WeChat."

The terms are indicating that WeChat can expose users' personal information such as name, contacts, email address and even location if users have chosen to share it with the service. This follows other recent aggressive actions by the Chinese government to control its netizen's online activities.

WeChat is doing this in order to comply with the "applicable laws or regulations."

The terms also confirmed what has been rumored all along (Tancent's WeChat in giving user information to the Chinese government).

A 2016 survey by Amnesty International ranked the app as the lowest among other popular messaging apps with regard to privacy protection of its users.

WeChat is created by Chinese firm Tencent, and it's the most popular messaging service in China. In comparison, it's the equivalent to WhatsApp or Facebook's Messenger to most other counties. With more than 662 million users, the app, besides being the dominant messaging app in China, is also one of the largest in the world.

Most of its Chinese users use WeChat as an alternative to other mainstream messaging services because they are regularly blocked in the country.

Published: 
23/09/2017