Mr. Trump said the apps can access private information from their users. It could be used by the Chinese government to “track the locations of Federal employees and contractors, and build dossiers of personal information,” he added. The order takes effect in 45 days—after Mr. Trump leaves office.
“As with the WeChat and TikTok executive orders, the underlying threat that the administration is identifying here is not clearly tied to any specific actions taken by the companies named in the order,” Ms. Ashton said in a statement. “Chinese data breaches and hacking activities are referenced, but they are not tied directly to the companies the president has targeted.