China’s internet watchdog has named and investigated 105 apps operating in the country, including Douyin, Kuaishou, Linkedin, over allegation of illegal data collection of user’ personal information.

Detail: The Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) announced in a statement that the 105 apps violated laws by excessively collecting and illegally using users’ personal information.

The 105 apps were divided into three groups, of which 19 are short video apps including Douyin kuaishou, 35 are internet explorers including 360 browser, Baidu’s mobile browser, the remaining 51 are recruiting application including Linkedin, 51job, zhaopin.com.

All 150 apps are given 15 working days to rectify the violation.

Context: The scrutiny is part of a broader crackdown on violation of personal information,

The new rule that outlines how apps should collect personal information, came into effect May 1. Since then, CAC has routinely investigated and warned popular apps developed by Alibaba, Baidu, Tencent, for violation of online privacy and improper collection of user data.

In 2020, Chinese government drafted the personal information protection law that set fined of up to CNY50 million for violation of personal privacy.