Some WeChat users raise privacy concerns

WeChat, a popular Chinese mobile messaging app, is widely used by the Bhutanese, both young and old. But of late, some users have raised concerns over how private and secure the app is. Many claim their accounts have been hacked.

Namgay Tenzin is among the thousands of Bhutanese who use WeChat to communicate with their families and friends.  About a week ago, Namgay learned his WeChat account was hacked. It was his brother who called to inform him that something was not quite right with his WeChat account.

“He said the profile picture was that of a woman and that everything was in Chinese,” Namgay recalled his brother telling him.

“He also said he has been receiving a lot of messages from my account, and that all messages were obscene videos and pictures,” added Namgay Tenzin.

To make others aware about the privacy issues in WeChat, Namgay shared a post on it on the Bhutanese Forum, which is a Facebook page used by many in the country to share and discuss issues of public interest among others.

“Amazingly, I found out that it was not only just me. A lot of people found their WeChat account hacked,” shared Namgay.

The Bhutan Computer Incident Response Team (BtCIRT ) of the Ministry of Information and Communications agrees WeChat is less secure. This is because the app lacks end to end encryption, a feature that ensures that only the communicating users can view the messages. It ensures no third party can access both stored and shared data.

“WeChat is hosted in China and they have totally different sets of cyber law,” said Pema Dhendup, ICT Officer, BtCIRT. “So we don’t have much control over it.”

He added there are several measures that users can take to protect their accounts against hackers. “Using stronger passwords and making sure your phone software is up to date are two important steps towards protecting your social media accounts against hackers,” said Pema Dhendup.

He also urged users to lodge complaints, either with the ministry or the police, if their accounts are hacked.

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