Written by Aanya Krishna – a grade 6 student

What is Mitron?

Mitron, a recently launched app, is a platform that allows its users to create short musical videos featuring trending songs. Just like Tiktok, Mitron allows one to create, edit, and share videos and at the same time browse through a library full of recordings made by famous creators. Mitron was launched in India on April 11th, 2020, and has since then seen over five million downloads, giving Tiktok some tough competition.

Who launched Mitron and why?

The growing resentment towards China and Chinese products and PM Modi’s call to support local products and businesses has been a perfect opportunity for the makers of Mitron to launch the app. Shivank Agarwal, the brain behind this app, is an IIT Roorkee student. He seized the opportunity at the right time and created the Indian version of the popular TikTok and went viral soon after its launch – Mitron clocked 5 million downloads in less than a month.

Why has Mitron been dropped from Google Play Store despite its popularity?

According to news articles, the source code for the Mitron app was created in Pakistan by a software development company Qboxus. It was purchased by Shivank Agarwal for a mere USD 34. Source codes are the foundation on which an app is built but firewalls and other software security measures are introduced by creators before a public launch. New and functional features are also added to make an app user friendly.

The creators of Mitron, however, launched the app without customizing the code or adding any enhanced security. This has raised concerns around the safety of Mitron’s users since it puts user data at risk.

Also, since Mitron’s source code was not changed at all, Qboxus still has access to it. Cybersecurity experts feel that the company could insert any malware or virus into future updates giving them full control of the app and access to the data of five million users. Further, if Qboxus were to sell the same source code to another company then they can also tap into the database of Mitron users.

What is the future of Mitron?

For now, Mitron has been removed from the Google Play Store after Google red-flagged this app for violating privacy and minimum functionality policies. Cybersecurity experts have suggested deleting the app to stay safe from unwanted viruses.

Written by: Aanya Krishna
Aanya is a grade 6 student. A voracious reader she also loves to draw and doodle. Like her whole family, she is also a big foodie!

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