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India’s Ministry of Home Affairs has ordered the removal of more than half a dozen VPN apps, including the popular Cloudflare 1.1.1.1, from the Apple App Store and Google Play Store. The action follows a directive from the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre, which flagged these apps for allegedly violating local regulations.
The other VPN services that have been impacted by this issue are Hide.me, and PrivadoVPN, apart from Cloudflare’s 1.1.1.1. Apple and Google have also stated to the concerned developers that banned the app in their app stores due to legal requests by the Indian government. This is the first major crackdown on VPN apps in India since the creation of the 2022 regulatory framework, which demands that providers retain their users’ information, including personal data and transaction history, for five years.
The contentious regulations have also applied to cloud service operators and have been met with significant resistance particularly from VPN service providers. Many of the key players, including NordVPN, ExpressVPN, Surfshark, and Proton VPN have raised concerns, some of which have stated and shown their intention to stop providing server services in India. Still, these companies are available to Indian users and while they promote their apps they do not actively do it in India.
The actions undertaken by Indian authorities have elicited apprehensions regarding privacy and digital rights, as detractors contend that these measures undermine user security and the freedom of expression within the nation. As the situation progresses, industry stakeholders are advocating for enhanced clarity and dialogue concerning the equilibrium between security and privacy within India’s advancing digital environment.
