India Tightens Grip on VPN Apps: Major Players Pulled from Stores
In a significant move affecting the tech landscape, India has seen the removal of several popular VPN apps, such as Cloudflare’s 1.1.1.1, from its Apple App Store and Google Play Store. This development comes after intervention by Indian government authorities, as TechCrunch has discovered. The Ministry of Home Affairs issued orders for the removal, according to a document and Google’s disclosure to Lumen, Harvard University’s global database tracking government takedown requests.
- Among the affected apps are Hide.me and PrivadoVPN.
- The Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Center cited violations of Indian law.
- Apple, Google, Cloudflare, and the ministry have not commented on the situation.
This action is a pivotal enforcement of India’s 2022 VPN regulatory framework, which requires providers to maintain extensive customer records for five years.
TechCrunch
The new rules have sparked controversy among major VPN providers. Industry leaders like NordVPN, ExpressVPN, SurfShark, and ProtonVPN have openly critiqued the regulations. Some have even decided to withdraw their server infrastructure from India in response to these stringent requirements.
Despite these challenges, NordVPN, ExpressVPN, and SurfShark continue to serve their Indian customers but have ceased marketing their apps within the country.
