A brigade in Northeast China's Liaoning Province has designated smartphone apps, specifically taxi-hailing apps, as a security risk, the People's Liberation Army (PLA) Daily reported Monday.
The Liaoyang-based 39th Group Army security committee said smartphone apps could raise serious security concerns, especially taxi-hailing apps, which provide location-based services, and require users to hand over their personal information.
They claimed that using the apps could lead to the precise location of army bases and soldiers' sensitive personal data being revealed to the public.
A 39th Group Army corporal surnamed Zhou hailed a ride through an app, and the car waited for him at the base's gate on January 30. Before he could get in the taxi, Song Xianjie, a platoon leader, stopped Zhou and asked him about the car. When Song learned that the driver had been given the base's exact location and detailed information about Zhou including his phone number and full name, he made the driver delete the information instantly and reported the incident to his superiors.
According to the PLA Daily, the brigade is trying to increase awareness of risks posed by smartphone apps. They have held discussions on the issue, introduced new regulations on the use of mobile phones, made soldiers register their phone numbers with the PLA and set up smartphone-free zones. China's top military authority released a regulation in July 2015 which laid out restrictions on soldiers' use of smartphones and the Internet.
