BEIJING: In the latest social media incident attempting to address user personal privacy concerns, Tencent Holdings claimed that claims of unauthorized logins on its WeChat Super app were a "misunderstanding" related to a technical issue.

WeChat, which claims more than 1.2 billion active monthly users, became the center of controversy after users expressed concerns about logs revealing login activities from unknown devices, some of which occurred in the middle of the night. .

WeChat said in a statement released on Thursday that claims of anonymous logins were "misunderstood." The WeChat team said in the statement that for the login record to show devices not identified by users, it was "very likely" users' own devices, but with different names generated by the manufacturer's settings.

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WeChat claimed that it automatically enhances login "like many other apps" to keep the app online for logins that occur while the user is asleep. The developer repeatedly said in the statement, "There is no need to fear.

The biggest concern of users with WeChat has been security as the app is widely used in daily life. In China, it is regarded as an essential online tool and is used for everything from messaging and reading news to purchases and payment processing.

Even though Tencent has repeatedly reassured Chinese users that it will not be able to access their data without authorization, concerns are growing about privacy leaks from WeChat.

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However, WeChat messages are often used by Chinese police to blame people for "spreading rumours," and state-owned companies and government organizations in China have used the app for sensitive work-related communications to staff members. A warning has been issued regarding use.

Some people weren't persuaded by the most recent Tencent explanation. The hashtag-related post on microblogging site Weibo has garnered more than 2 million views, drawing attention on social media.

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The app has faced criticism from users for repeatedly accessing the photo gallery for up to a minute at a time even when not in use. At the time, Tencent promised to stop background scanning of photos and said the app makes searching for fresh images "faster and easier" to send photos to users.

Beijing has increased data handling and privacy checks for online services operated by Chinese Internet companies, and new rules were introduced last year to address the problem.

China's personal information protection law is considered one of the strictest laws in the world governing data protection, and the data protection law has imposed strict legal requirements on the data handling procedures of Internet companies.