More sanctions in the US, but this time on Chinese apps

The US Department of Commerce may issue subpoenas to collect software applications for certain smartphones, tablets and desktop computers. The agency can negotiate the terms of their use in the United States or ban the apps.

President Joe Biden's executive order to protect Americans' sensitive data is forcing some Chinese apps to take stricter measures to protect personal data. If they want to stay in the US market," writes the US Routers.

The purpose of such an order is to prevent foreign adversaries, such as China and Russia, from gaining access to large amounts of personal and business information. While the new order does not name the companies, it could cover more applications than Trump has banned. Reuters is the first to report details on how the Biden administration plans to implement the order. It is also seeking support from other countries.

Gina Raimondo, US Trade Secretary, decides which applications to target for US action. But they must meet certain conditions. The applications must be owned, controlled or managed by a person or entity that supports the military or intelligence activities of a foreign adversary, such as China or Russia.

If Raimondo decides that an application poses an unacceptable risk, he has "discretion to notify the parties". But he can publish the information in the government's official daily publication, the Federal Register.

Wechat, Tiktok, etc. can be overridden

According to one source, the eight additional apps targeted by WeChat, TikTok and the Trump administration in recent months may be under review by Biden's team.

Trump's targets also included Ant Group, Alipay's mobile payment app, WeChat Pay, Tencent Holdings Ltd's QQ wallet, Tencent QQ, CamScanner, SHAREit, VMate, Alibaba Group subsidiary UCWeb and Beijing-based Kingsoft Office Software's WPS Office.

The order covers business applications, including banking and telecoms applications, as well as consumer applications. Apps linked to other adversaries, such as Iran or Venezuela, are already blocked by broader sanctions.