Several popular VPN apps, including Cloudflare’s 1.1.1.1, were recently removed from India’s Apple App Store and Google Play Store.
This action follows directives from the Indian Ministry of Home Affairs, which flagged these apps as non-compliant with national regulations.
Apps like Hide.me and PrivadoVPN were among those affected. Official communications revealed that the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Center demanded the removals, citing violations of Indian law.
This enforcement aligns with a 2022 policy requiring VPN providers to store detailed user data for five years, including names, addresses, IP addresses, and transaction histories.
The stringent rules have faced resistance from global VPN services. Some, like NordVPN and ExpressVPN, scaled back their Indian operations but continue to serve users through alternative methods.
