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In his final days in office, President Donald Trump is ramping up aggressive policies against Chinese payment apps and other software that has the potential to capture data on Americans.
A Jan. 5 executive order names Alipay, CamScanner, QQ Wallet, SHAREit, Tencent QQ, VMate, WeChat Pay and WPS Office. Alipay, in particular, has a large user base because it is the payment platform attached to the popular Alibaba e-commerce network, similar to PayPal s origin as the eBay payment system. The United States has assessed that a number of Chinese connected software applications automatically capture vast swaths of information from millions of users in the United States, including sensitive personally identifiable information and private information, which would allow the PRC and CCP access to Americans’ personal and proprietary information, the orders states.