Apple to face more scrutiny as China cracks down on apps

Hong Kong, June 29: More than half a billion Chinese smartphone users face increased monitoring of their mobileappusagethankstonew laws targeting operators including Apple.

App stores and providers must establish the identity of users, while monitoring and reporting postings that contain banned content. The legitimacy of developers who post apps for download must also be verified, according to new rules posted on the Cyberspace Administration of China’s website.

All app stores and providers are now required to keep a record of users’ activity for 60 days. And in an effort to boost privacy protection, they must now seek a user’s consent before collecting personal information, location data and contacts lists.

The regulations mark one of themostcomprehensiveefforts sofartooverseemobileapplications, which are mushrooming in popularity alongside smartphone use. They’re part of a broader effort by President Xi Jinping’s government to clamp down on content deemed sensitive — anything from critiques of the Communist Party to porn. “The regulations have been in the pipeline for some time and it’s an exacerbation of the existing controls,” says Willy Lam, an adjunct professor at the Chinese University of

Beijing, June 29: The director of China’s internet regulator has stepped down and been replaced by one of his deputies, state news agency Xinhua reported on Wednesday. Lu Wei will no longer head the Cyberspace Administration of China, Xinhua said in a report, adding that one of his deputies, Xu Lin, would replace him. Xu, 53, was in charge of propaganda in China’s commercial capital Shanghai from 2013-15 before being moved to Beijing a year ago to become a deputy to Lu, according to his biography. Reuters Hong Kong’s Center for China Studies. “This is in the wake of an increase in the number of communications, which are seen as critical of the regime.”

The regulations will apply to more than a dozen platforms that offer apps for download, including Apple’s and those operated by local smartphone makers. Apple, which has a reputation for strictly policing its app store, had no comment. Google’s app store isn’t available in China. Draft laws were submitted on Monday to the country’stoplegislaturethatexpand China’s oversight over its institutions and cyber-infrastructure. Bloomberg