President Donald Trump signed an executive order banning transactions with 8 Chinese software applications, on Tuesday. This is a clear sign of the escalating tensions with Beijing before President-elect Joe Biden takes an oath.
The move is aimed at protecting Americans from Chinese software applications. It is speculated that these Chinese companies’ software gained enough personal and identifiable data.
By curbing these threats this step was taken by government officials. These software have a huge user base and access to sensitive data, a senior official told Reuters.
Trump also signed CamScanner, SHAREit, VMate, and said “the United States must take aggressive action against those who develop or control Chinese connected software applications to protect our national security.”
Trump’s order says “by accessing personal electronic devices such as smartphones, tablets, and computers, Chinese connected software applications can access and capture vast swaths of information from users, including sensitive personally identifiable information and private information.”
However, The Chinese Embassy in Washington did not respond to a request for comment on this particular news.
A list of Chinese and Russian companies with alleged military ties was published last month. These companies restrict them from buying a range of US goods and technology.
