The U.S government has reportedly concluded plans to ban the use of WeChat in the US from Sunday night. The Wall Street Journal reports the Trump administration to have disclosed that it will ban the use of the popular messaging and electronic payment app over national security and data privacy concerns. 
US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross disclosed in an interview on Fox Business Network that the decision was reached by the department after President Trump ordered his department to review the Chinese-owned app for national security concerns last month. He stated; “China has been taking all kinds of data…that’s what we’re trying to squelch.”
The Commerce Secretary also disclosed that a similar ban will be imposed on another Chinese-owned app TikTok by November 12. However, he noted that the Oracle deal was in the pipeline that would incorporate data safeguards which could enable U.S users to continue accessing TikTok.
Earlier in August, the Trump administration had passed an executive order to ban the WeChat app in the US. According to a Reuters report, the Tencent owned app saw a rise in downloads after the passage of the executive order. This is as a result of users rushed to install the application before it completely disappeared from the app stores in the country.
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