Multiple virtual private network (VPN) applications have been taken down from the Google Play Store and Apple’s App Store in India, as reported by TechCrunch. These applications have been removed in what seems to be the initial enforcement action against these apps, more than two years following the government’s regulations that mandate VPN service providers to gather and retain customer information. A number of VPN providers had previously deactivated their physical servers in the nation due to the rules established in April 2022, but still continue to provide services to users in India.
VPN Apps Removed in India After Request to Remove
According to a document reviewed by TechCrunch, the Ministry of Home Affairs sent a directive to Google and Apple, requesting the companies to eliminate several VPN applications from the Play Store and App Store, respectively. The government’s appeal to Google was issued on October 29, and was recently discovered by the publication on the Lumen database.
One of the most prominent VPN applications to be withdrawn from both app stores is the 1. 1. 1. 1 application from Cloudflare, a US-based content delivery network service provider. Additional applications that were also removed include Touch VPN, X-VPN, Hide. me, and PrivadoVPN.
Both Google and Apple had already restricted access to these applications, at the time this article was published. Other VPN applications, such as Proton VPN, Express VPN, Private Internet Access, and Mullvad, remain available on both platforms.
The withdrawal of these applications occurs over two years after the government mandated VPN providers delivering services in the country to gather and retain customer details for a duration of five years. In April 2022, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology’s Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) stated that providers would need to keep names, addresses, IP addresses, and additional contact details of users in India.
Two months after CERT-In issued the mandate, prominent VPN providers such as ExpressVPN, Surfshark, NordVPN, and Private Internet Access declared that they would not adhere to the regulations and subsequently closed their physical VPN servers in India. It is important to highlight that these service providers continue to deliver VPN services to customers, even though they do not function within the nation.
