Recently, more than seven popular VPN apps, including Cloudflare’s 1.1.1.1, were removed from Apple’s App Store and Google Play Store in India due to intervention from government authorities. The Indian Ministry of Home Affairs issued removal orders, as confirmed by a document from Harvard University’s Lumen database, which tracks these government requests globally.
Apps such as Hide.me and PrivadoVPN are among those affected. In an official communication to developers, Apple cited a “demand” from the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Center, under the Ministry of Home Affairs, stating that the app content violated Indian laws.
Although the Indian Ministry, Apple, Google, and Cloudflare have not publicly commented on the situation, this move marks the first significant enforcement of India’s 2022 regulations concerning VPN services. The new regulations demand that VPN providers and cloud service operators keep extensive records of their users, including personal details and transaction histories, for at least five years.
These stringent rules have faced criticism from the VPN industry. Prominent names like NordVPN, ExpressVPN, SurfShark, and ProtonVPN have expressed serious concerns about these requirements, with some opting to withdraw their server infrastructure from India altogether.
While NordVPN, ExpressVPN, and SurfShark continue to provide services to Indian users, they have ceased marketing their applications in the region. This situation highlights the tension between regulatory compliance and the privacy-focused ethos that VPN services strive to uphold.
