VPNs are disappearing from India's app stores and a 2022 law may be the culprit

Date:
Fri, 03 Jan 2025 16:38:57 +0000

Description:
The VPN removal orders appear to be the first enactment of the controversial 2022 India's data retention law. Here's what we know so far.

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India has reportedly ordered the removal of some VPN apps from the country's Apple and Google official app stores for allegedly not complying with local rules.

As per the removal notifications reviewed by TechRadar, the Ministry of Home Affairs issued the removal order to both Apple and Google against Hide.me at the end of October 2024. Interestingly, the two notification messages refer
to different sections of the Information Technology Act, 2000 Section 79 and Section 66 respectively.

A recent report on TechCrunch now indicates that more than half-a-dozen VPN apps have been removed from India's official app stores so far, including Hide.me, PrivadoVPN , and Cloudflares 1.1.1.1. TechRadar contacted some of
the best VPN apps which have all confirmed their apps are still available at the time of writing.

Why is India removing VPN apps?

Despite not being explicitly mentioned in the removal notifications, these orders appear to be the first enactment of India's highly controversial data retention law enforced in 2022 .

Under the new Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) directives,
VPN providers are required to retain users' logs for at least five years to hand over this data to authorities upon request.

The new rules provoked an exodus of VPN companies from India , with the likes of ExpressVPN , NordVPN , Hide.me, Surfshark , and Proton VPN removing their servers physically based in the country to avoid compromising their users' privacy.

This is exactly why for Sebastian Schaub, CEO at Hide.me, the removal orders
do not come as a total surprise after the recent law amendments added "an impossible burden on VPN providers to operate legally in the country," he
said. Do you know? (Image credit: Getty Images) What's happening in India
isn't an isolated case. Between July and September alone, about 60 VPN apps silently disappeared from the Russian Apple App Store, bringing the total of unavailable applications in the Big Tech giant's official store to 98.

"We find the actions from the Indian government highly concerning. This sort
of censorship should not have a place in a democracy," Schaub told TechRadar, adding that India's decision follows similar actions from Russia and China in the past.

As of today, January 3, 2025, some of the biggest names in the VPN market confirmed to TechRadar they have not received any removal notifications.
Their VPN apps also remain available in India's official app stores at the
time of writing. These are NordVPN, Surfshark, Mullvad VPN , and PureVPN .

Other providers Proton VPN, ExpressVPN, Windscribe , IPVanish , and Private Internet Access (PIA) also confirmed none of the above occurred to their services when first approached by TechRadar back in November 2024.

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Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/vpn/vpn-services/vpns-are-disappearing-from-indias-a pp-stores-and-a-2022-law-may-be-the-culprit

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