It’s high time India Bans Foreign Apps such as Facebook, WhatsApp along with Google?

Today, we live in an era where technology dominates each and every aspect of our lives right from what we eat to the daily chores of our lives. We are not what we think of but appear to have constantly being monitored by someone through intrusion into our privacy. Having said that, the recent controversy surrounding the leakage of our private data involving Facebook has made us all think about the security and safety of our data. So, monitoring these events, I think that India should seriously consider banning Facebook, WhatsApp along with Google, just as China has done, though for various reasons.

It’s now pretty much clear that Facebook has been giving access to our personal data to several firms who in turn are using it for possibly illegal activities. India has been the biggest market for all these US multinationals such as Facebook, WhatsApp as well the mighty Google search engine. Google has started tracking down our daily life including the locations that we are in along with each and every aspect of our daily life. On the other hand, WhatsApp is also not far behind in data mining and leaking as well. When WhatsApp announced end-to-end encryption, there were already mixed responses from people all over the country. In the wake of the iPhone incident in the US where there was a fight between Apple and the FBI over the former’s sealed privacy, this came as a blow and anticipations started flying high. It should have been predicted right then so that our law could take its course on banning WhatsApp.

Some popular technology firms such as Facebook have become so commanding that simply levying a hefty fine on them for bad behavior or for playing with people’s privacy might not be adequate. It’s very clear that the US will act tough against such companies to curtail their role in spreading fake news and exploiting consumer data. Taking leaf from this India should also act tough against such firms (Facebook, WhatsApp, Google, etc.) who try to intrude the customer’s privacy by leaking out their data.

The solution that we can expect for is an outright ban on Facebook, WhatsApp and possibly Google in India. One might wonder whether such as drastic step is required. Just think about the consequences of ‘bad people’ spreading fake news and exploiting consumer data. Given India’s large population with less educated people, this exploitation of data and fake news can easily lead to communal hatred, which is the last thing India wants. This can also lead to an abrupt and uncontrollable violence, particularly when we head towards the next General Elections in 2019.The solution that we can expect for is an outright ban on Facebook, WhatsApp and possibly Google in India. One might wonder whether such as drastic step is required. Just think about the consequences of ‘bad people’ spreading fake news and exploiting consumer data. Given India’s large population with less educated people, this exploitation of data and fake news can easily lead to communal hatred, which is the last thing India wants. This can also lead to an abrupt and uncontrollable violence, particularly when we head towards the next General Elections.

Can we go the China Way?

If you live in China or even if you don’t you might be aware that the country has banned several popular websites, social media apps and some search engines as well. It has its own reasons but the primary one is to save their data from getting leaked to the world through the sites and apps. Some of the popular social media websites/apps banned in China are:

• Facebook
• Twitter, Instagram
• Tumblr
• Snapchat
• Picasa
• Wordpress.com
• Blogspot, Blogger
• Flickr
• Google+, Google Hangouts
• Hootsuite

As far as other apps are concerned, Google Play is one of the major apps blocked in China which means that all apps that are downloaded from Google Play are also blocked. Now, why has China done this? I see three major reasons for this:

1. Strict Authority – The Chinese government entirely controls the content that goes on the Internet, deletes or bans it if it thinks is not in the interest of the country.

2. Fear: The fear of data leak is always there when you have foreign websites and apps having server outside the country. So, to keep the outsiders and their influences out of the country, China has blocked all these websites and apps

3. Inhouse development – China believes in developing their own apps thus managing to keep the outsiders from penetrating into their market.

Should India develop its own Apps?

Taking cue from China and few other countries that have blocked foreign websites, search engines and apps, India should start developing its own apps. In fact, India has its own chat applications such as Telegram & Hike which is far effective than WhatsApp, but it’s the people’s mindset that needs to be changed in order to popularize our apps. The talent India has is vast, however, it needs to be used at the right place and at the right time.

It’s high time now that India bans all the foreign websites and apps and start using its own not only to nurture the immense talent that it has but also to protect its data from being stolen.