Taiwan’s National Security Bureau (NSB) has issued a strong warning about using popular Chinese-developed apps such as RedNote (Xiaohongshu), Weibo, TikTok, WeChat, and Baidu Cloud, citing excessive data collection and data transfers to servers in China that could jeopardize user privacy and security.
The advisory comes after a detailed inspection conducted jointly with the Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau (MJIB) and the Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) under the National Police Agency.
Key findings
According to the NSB, the apps were evaluated against 15 indicators across five categories:
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Personal data collection
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Excessive permission usage
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Data transmission and sharing
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System information extraction
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Biometric data access
The findings were concerning:
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RedNote violated all 15 indicators.
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Weibo and TikTok breached 13 indicators each.
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WeChat and Baidu Cloud violated 10 and 9 indicators, respectively.
Among the issues identified were the collection of sensitive personal data — including facial recognition information, screenshots, clipboard content, contact lists, and location details — as well as harvesting the list of installed apps and device parameters.
Notably, all five apps transmitted user data back to servers in China, raising alarms over potential misuse by third parties, especially given that Chinese law requires domestic companies to provide user data to the government for national security and intelligence purposes.
A broader context
The warning aligns with moves by other countries to limit the influence of Chinese technology firms on grounds of privacy and security.
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India banned dozens of Chinese apps over similar concerns.
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Canada in late 2024 ordered TikTok to dissolve its operations in the country.
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The U.S. has also extended deliberations over a nationwide TikTok ban, originally scheduled for January 2025.
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Germany recently urged Apple and Google to remove the Chinese AI chatbot DeepSeek from their app stores for illegal data transfers.
Official advice
In its statement, the NSB urged the public to “remain vigilant regarding mobile device security” and to avoid downloading Chinese-made apps that pose cybersecurity risks, to better protect their personal data and business information.
The agency emphasized the risks of potential privacy breaches and corporate espionage, warning that the use of such apps could inadvertently expose sensitive information to the Chinese government or unauthorized third parties.