Update on July 2 (3:23 pm): All defence personnel have been "advised" to delete the 59 apps and refrain from using them, as per a June 30 cybersecurity advisory that Defence Secretary Ajay Kumar tweeted. Update on June 30: TikTok and Helo, among the 59 'Chinese' apps banned by the Indian government late Monday are no longer available on Apple and Google's app stores. Both the apps went missing from Apple App Store at around 1:30 am on June 30, while they vanished from Google Play Store this morning. TikTok's India Head, Nikhil Gandhi, in a statement said that they have been invited to meet with concerned government stakeholders to respond and submit clarifications. He maintained that TikTok doesn't share personal information of Indians with any foreign government, including China. TikTok's statement in full: "The Government of India has issued an interim order for the blocking of 59 apps, including TikTok and we are in the process of complying with it. We have been invited to meet with concerned government stakeholders for an opportunity to respond and submit clarifications. TikTok continues to comply with all data privacy and security requirements under Indian law and have not shared any information of our users in India with any foreign government, including the Chinese Government. Further if we are requested to in the future we would not do so. We place the highest importance on user privacy and integrity. TikTok has democratized the internet by making it available in 14 Indian languages, with hundreds…
