China Wants App Makers To Register With The Government

China wants developers of mobile apps to register with its Cyberspace Administration beginning January 16, 2017, if they want their products to become available in the region. The government says that this is a way to protect its people as well as its secrets from becoming vulnerable. In the wake of many apps containing malware that allows malicious entities to take control of mobile devices and get information from them, it might have a point.

It’s no secret that the apps market is a minefield where every other app could be the one to infect hundreds of millions of smart devices. A lot of this has to do with the proliferation of apps with malware embedded in their code. According to Chinese officials, it also has a lot to do with many app stores having poor management, Engadget reports.

What the government is claiming with this move is that it wants to make sure that there is a standard for keeping all of the apps in line with customer safety in mind. Then again, it wouldn’t be so strange if this is yet another attempt by China to suppress outside information from spreading within its borders and potentially giving its citizens certain ideas.

Recently, China banned both the Chinese and English version of The New York Times app from being featured in the Apple app store. According to the iPhone maker’s official statement, the publication’s app didn’t meet certain rules that were imposed by the government. As a result, Apple was forced to remove the app altogether.

On that note, there really is a cause for concern that many of the apps available in many of China’s app stores are riddled with malicious programs. Even The New York Times notes how a lot of them put Chinese consumers at risk of a broad range of consequences, from simple device infection to straight up identity theft.