The US bans on Chinese apps TikTok and WeChat are not particularly valuable for US security, experts told AFP Friday, but could step up broader commercial pressure on Beijing and help President Donald Trump appear tough as he seeks reelection.

In announcing the bans -- to take effect in 45 days -- Trump declared Thursday that Chinese mobile apps "threaten the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States."

Data collection by the apps, he argued "threatens to allow the Chinese Communist Party access to Americans' personal and proprietary information," which he said could be used for espionage, blackmail, and to track Chinese nationals inside the US.

But cyber security specialists say the benefits to the ban are minimal and don't solve any immediate threats.

The WeChat ban especially, they say, actually harms a large number of Chinese Americans, US-based Chinese, and businesses working with China, all for whom the app is essential to communications.

- 'Data-sucking operation' -

Both apps collect huge amounts of data on hundreds of millions of users.

An all-in-one tool, WeChat provides messaging, financial transactions, group chats, and social media, all of which is stored on Chinese servers that a 2017 security law says must be accessible by Chinese intelligence.

TikTok, a simple app for making and sharing short videos, meanwhile mines users' accounts and phones for lots of identifying information.

"WeChat is bad," said Nicholas Weaver, a lecturer in computer security at the University of California in Berkeley.

"It uses encrypted links to WeChat's servers in China... but the servers see all messages, so the Chinese government can see any message it wants," he said.

However, Weaver said, there few alternatives if you want to communicate widely with people in China, from inside or outside the country.

"So by banning WeChat, it is really about stopping US persons from being able to communicate with friends and relatives in China, which is an awful idea."

As for TikTok, it is hardly different from popular US social media, he said, "a massive data-sucking operation."

TikTok denies having provided data to the Chinese government, and says it would not do so if asked -- but Weaver is doubtful of that claim.

"Of course the Chinese government can access that information, just as the US government can access any information collected by Facebook."

None of that constitutes a particular security risk if people are aware, Weaver said.

The best approach, he said, "is not blanket bans but better policy and communication: Communicate to US business what the risks are, and configure government systems to avoid the risks."

"This is so clearly a political rather than a security concern," said Weaver.

"The real security threats -- and they are real -- are best addressed and have been addressed far more quietly," he said.

- Tough on China -

As US intelligence said Friday that China is opposing Trump's reelection in November, analysts saw the bans as motivated at least in part by the US leader's desire to show he is taking a hard line on Beijing.

Adam Segal, director of the Digital and Cyberspace Policy Program at the Council on Foreign Relations, said neither WeChat or TikTok should be on the telephones of government officials due to the security risk -- the argument invoked by the Republican-led Senate in voting to bar TikTok from government employees' phones.

But a blanket ban "does not strike me as being an essential action to increase US cybersecurity," Segal said.

Trump's motivation "seems to be driven both by a sense of technological competition with the Chinese and his desire to show he is being tough on China in the runup to the election."

Segal noted that the Trump administration doesn't say what it expects from Beijing.

"They have very clearly laid out that we are going to compete with China and that we need to push back," he said.

"But it is not clear what it is China is supposed to do or what behaviors we want to see."

TikTok and WeChat: Chinese apps dogged by security fears
Beijing (AFP) Aug 7, 2020 - The United States has fired a new salvo in its rivalry with China, ordering sweeping restrictions against Chinese-owned social media stars TikTok and WeChat.

Here are some key facts about the platforms:

- What is WeChat? -

WeChat, known as "weixin" or micro-message in Chinese, belongs to tech giant Tencent and has grown to become ubiquitous in daily life across China since its 2011 launch.

It has more than a billion monthly users and is a "super app" used for everything from messaging to ride-hailing and mobile payments, while also serving as a social media platform.

Tencent surpassed Facebook's net worth after it became the first Asian firm to be valued at more than $500 billion in 2017.

The Hong Kong-listed company now has a market capitalisation of HK$5.32 trillion ($686 billion), compared with Facebook's $756 billion.

While WeChat is available in various languages, its main user base is in mainland China, where potential rivals such as Facebook's WhatsApp messaging service are barred from competing.

It is also a widely used among the Chinese diaspora, and foreigners doing business in the country, to keep in touch with people there.

Tencent has shares in many American companies, including electric-car maker Tesla, social media company Snap, and top games developers such as Riot Games, Epic Games and Activision Blizzard.

- Surveillance on WeChat -

WeChat has been dogged by privacy concerns.

The platform censors content for all users registered with Chinese phone numbers, even if they go abroad or switch to an international number, according to a University of Toronto study from 2016.

Another report from the same university in May said accounts not registered in China were also subject to "pervasive content surveillance".

Chinese authorities routinely censor online content and block Western websites such as Facebook, Twitter and the New York Times.

WeChat's privacy policy says the platform only shares user information "where necessary" with governments and law enforcement agencies.

- What is TikTok? -

TikTok features kaleidoscopic feeds of short user-made videos of anything from hair-dye tutorials to choreographed dance routines.

It belongs to Chinese tech firm ByteDance and targets the international market while Douyin, a domestic version of the platform, caters exclusively to Chinese users.

TikTok has been downloaded more than 2 billion times since its 2017 launch, according to data from US-based research agency SensorTower.

The app is most popular among teenagers but has found fresh popularity during coronavirus lockdowns around the world as adults look for new ways to pass the time.

It attracted huge followings in the United States, Indonesia and other countries, but it recently became one of 59 Chinese mobile apps banned by India over national security and privacy concerns.

- Distancing from China -

TikTok has in recent months sought to distance itself from its Chinese owners. It appointed former Disney executive Kevin Mayer, an American, as its new chief executive in May.

It also withdrew from Hong Kong shortly after China imposed a new security law on the city that gave police fresh powers to censor the internet -- a move that analysts said was an effort to avoid the suggestion it was a Chinese-controlled company.

But the app has nonetheless been accused of privacy breaches.

Trump previously set a deadline of mid-September for TikTok to be acquired by a US firm or be banned in the US.

Microsoft has expanded its talks on TikTok to a potential deal that would include buying the global operations of the fast-growing app, the Financial Times reported Thursday.

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