Mitron short video-sharing app recently arrived as an Indian TikTok competitor and gained over 5 million users in a month. However, it soon attracted negative limelight when the app was found to be a Pakistani app, in reality, followed by privacy concerns. Adding to the issues surrounding Mitron, the app has now been removed from the Google Play Store. Read on to know why.
Mitron no longer listed on Google Play Store
The Mitron app, which was claimed to be developed by IIT Roorkee student Shivank Agarwal, no longer exists on the Google Play Store. We checked it for ourselves and the app can't be found on the Play Store. Although, there are various other apps going by the same that are listed on the app store. As a reminder, the Mitron app has been developed by MitronTV and the ones listed on the Google Play Store have other developer names.
While there is no word on why Google removed Mitron from the Play Store, it is speculated that the prevailing security issues, coupled with the fact that it had a false identity could be the reasons behind Google's move. We contacted Google for the same and Google confirmed the removal of the Mitron app stating that the app has been suspended as it doesn't comply with Google's privacy policies.
For those who don't know, it was recently revealed that the Mitron app, which was claimed to be an Indian app, is actually a Pakistani app. The app's source code was sold to Shivank Agarwal on CodeCanyon by Pakistani software developer company Qboxus. It was sold for around Rs. 2,500. The app was rebranded Pakistani TicTic app and there is no word on its privacy policies and data processing details, one of the reasons why it isn't deemed safe.
It is suggested that when the source of the app was purchased, its privacy policies weren't uploaded, which is a reason for its privacy issues. Satyajit Sinha, a cybersecurity researcher at Counterpoint told the Indianexpress.com: “It’s risky to use Mitron app given it doesn’t have any additional firewall or software security on top of the source code. The privacy policy is weak and that can put user data at risk in the long run.”
Since the source code doesn't have any changes made to it, QBoxus could sell the source code to another party and that every party can either access the Mitron app user data or add a malicious code to cause further security issues. However, Qboxus's founder Irfan Sheikh rubbished the claims and suggested that the company only sells source codes and doesn't indulge in hindering the privacy of users. Additionally, it does provide an update to the apps but doesn't force developers to include it.
While the app hasn't been removed from the Google Play Store, people having it can still use it. However, due to security issues the app is likely to have, we advise users to delete the app and not use it.
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