HYDERABAD:The Mitron app, an Indian alternative for TikTok, developed by IIT-Roorkee alumnus Shivank Agarwal and his team based out of Bengaluru has been removed from Google Play store on Tuesday.

The app which was launched in April 2020 had more than 50 lakh downloads. Neither Google nor Mitron has issued an official statement about the removal of the application from the Play store. Now, the app is not available for download.

If you have already downloaded the Mitron app, then you will be able to use it. But, it is suggested to delete the app as it comes with several vulnerabilities. According to the reports, Shivank Agarwal has purchased the app from Irfan Sheikh of Qboxus from Lahore and rebranded the app as Mitron.

Irfan Sheikh of Qboxus from Lahore speaking to a news daily confirmed that Shivank Agarwal has reached out to Qboxus to buy the source code of TicTic. Irfan also said that there are privacy issues with the Mitron app because the app developer has not uploaded the privacy policy. It is always important to check the developer first before installing an app on phone.

Satyajit Sinha, a cybersecurity researcher at Counterpoint speaking to a news daily said that, “It’s risky to use the Mitron app given it doesn’t have any additional firewall or software security on top of the source code. The privacy policy is weak and that can put user data at risk in the long run.”