Messaging apps aren’t always the most secure pieces of software in the world, but while most of these security issues lie with Android, there are also some worries about them being used on PCs, which is why Taiwan says it has banned the use of these apps on government computers.
The Taiwanese Cabinet told Bloomberg in a statement that Naver’s LINE and Microsoft’s Windows Live Messenger were among those being banned for both download and use, but could include many or all of the others.
Windows Live Messenger will be officially discontinued in China on October 31, 2014 in favor of Skype. It’s already been discontinued elsewhere as of last year.
personal computers and mobile devices will not be affected by the ban
The ban is only being enforced on government computers, while personal computers and mobile devices will not be affected. The statement didn’t elaborate on the nature of the security concerns, but there were concerns over China-based Xiaomi Corp-manufactured devices collecting and transmitting personal data to Beijing, something that is reportedly being investigated by Minister of Science and Technology Simon Chang, the National Communications Commission and the economic ministry’s Industrial Development Bureau were instructed to investigate Xiaomi devices.
In light of this, Xiaomi apologized for “any concern caused to our users” and made its MIUI Cloud Messaging service, which collects and transmits personal data, an opt-in feature instead of automatically activating it on all phones.