Canada bans WeChat, Kaspersky apps on government mobile phones

Canadian state officials are now banned from using the messaging app WeChat and the antivirus program Kaspersky on government-issued mobile devices due to "unacceptable" privacy and security risks because of their associations with China and Russia, respectively.

The Canadian government is concerned that WeChat and Kaspersky's data collection methods on mobile devices “provide significant access to their contents.”

There is no evidence that government information has been compromised through these apps, so these measures are precautionary, according to a statement from the Treasury Board of Canada released on Monday.

The decision to ban WeChat and Kaspersky was made to ensure that Canada's government networks and data "remain secure and protected" and align with the approach of its international partners, the statement said.

In response to Canada's decision, Kaspersky issued a statement expressing disappointment with the ban, which it believes “seems to be made on political grounds, rather than a technical assessment of Kaspersky products."

“This decision comes as a surprise and was made without any warning,” the statement said. The Moscow-based company is “ready to cooperate with Canadian government agencies to address any regulators' concerns and reverse this decision.”

WeChat didn't publicly address the ban and hasn't responded to a request for comment. However, China's foreign ministry response was similar to Kaspersky's — stating that the Canadian government imposed the ban without real evidence of security risks and was instead guided by "ideological prejudices."

During a press briefing on Tuesday, the ministry's spokesperson, Wang Wenbin, expressed China's hope that Canada will “abide by the principles of market economy and provide a fair, just and non-discriminatory business environment for Chinese enterprises."

In February, Canada banned the short-video app, TikTok, developed by the Chinese tech giant ByteDance, from government-issued devices due to an “unacceptable level of risk to privacy and security.”

Canada is not the only nation with suspicions regarding Chinese and Russian tech services.

In 2017, the U.S. government banned federal agencies from using Kaspersky products over concerns that the company collaborated on a secret spying project with Russia's security service (FSB).

Kaspersky denied the allegations and said that since the U.S. ban, it has been “implementing a comprehensive set of measures for greater transparency and reaffirming the security and reliability of its solutions.”

Former U.S. President Donald Trump also tried to ban WeChat and TikTok, but Biden's administration dropped the ban and instead called for national security reviews of these apps.