Chinese app stores remove virtual keyboard apps

China has been working on setting limits what kind of user data mobile apps can collect and several apps have already been hit.

According to Reuters, Sogou and Iflytek got their virtual keyboards removed from stores such as Huawei AppGallery and the App Store by Apple.

As of today, the “input method apps”, as they are called, cannot be downloaded. Iflytek Input allowed you to dictate text anywhere on your phone, but its data privacy agreement allowed the owners to collect personal information for “national security and national defense security” without the consent of users.

Iflytek said it has “already completed the rectification and is currently waiting for approval from the regulator”; Sogou is yet to reply to the news agency.

Users that have already downloaded the apps can continue to use them but they won’t receive any updates until their fixed versions come online.

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