If you use Tencent’s QQ web browser your personal data is at risk, experts warn

Major security flaws found as browsers transmit information in a non-secure way due to poor encryption; speculation rife that Chinese sites may have been instructed to do this by higher powers

Tencent operates WeChat (pictured) and QQ, two mobile chatting platforms with various functions. QQ was released in 1999 as OICQ but changed its name to avoid a trademark infringement lawsuit. Photo: SCMP Pictures

The popular QQ web browser owned by Tencent, China’s largest internet service portal, has security flaws that could result in the leaking of personal user data, including web and search history, according to a new international study.

QQ, which has hundreds of millions of users, was found by the University of Toronto’s CitizenLab to have significant security issues relating to encryption.

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