The Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC), the country’s main internet watchdog, has found 33 mobile phone apps broke data privacy rules through a range of actions. The companies behind the apps have ten days to comply with the regulations or face a fine.

The CAC identified some map apps, as well as apps used for instant messaging and others with more functions, such as the downloading of emojis, as being at fault, Reuters news agency reported.

The programmes collected data without consent, collected more information than needed for operational purposes, and data was not deleted or revised in accordance with regulations, the CAC said.

The Chinese government has been clamping down on the country’s vast “platform economy”, used for e-commerce activities from banking to food delivery.

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