TAIPEI (TVBS News) — Taiwan's National Security Bureau (NSB, 國安局), the island's premier intelligence agency, announced on Wednesday (July 2) that it has uncovered alarming security vulnerabilities in popular Chinese-made apps that could expose Taiwanese citizens' personal information to Beijing. The sweeping investigation, conducted jointly with the Ministry of Justice (MOJ, 法務部) Investigation Bureau and the Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB, 刑事局), revealed "significant and widespread" privacy breaches that officials warn could compromise national security.
Investigators scrutinized five widely-used Chinese applications: Xiaohongshu (小紅書), a lifestyle platform popular among young Taiwanese; Weibo (微博), China's Twitter equivalent; Douyin (抖音), the Chinese version of TikTok; WeChat (微信), the ubiquitous messaging app; and Baidu Cloud (百度雲盤), a storage service. Xiaohongshu failed all 15 security criteria, while Weibo and Douyin violated 13. WeChat and Baidu Cloud breached 10 and 9 requirements respectively. The report details how these apps harvest excessive personal data including facial recognition information, screenshots, clipboard contents, contact lists, and precise location data without proper consent. More troublingly, all five transmit user information directly to servers in mainland China.
The findings raise particular alarm given China's legal framework, which compels compliance with government data requests. Under China's Cybersecurity Law (中共網路安全法) and National Intelligence Law (中共國家情報法), Chinese companies must surrender user data to national security agencies when requested, potentially exposing Taiwanese citizens' personal information to Beijing's surveillance apparatus. Taiwan's investigation follows similar actions worldwide, with the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, and India having already implemented partial or complete bans on certain Chinese applications. The European Union has launched formal investigations into several apps under its stringent General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). ◼