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Mitron, the clone version of video making and sharing app TikTok recently came in limelight due to its Indian origin. The story took an unexpected turn when the publisher of app, ShopKiller stated that the app was in fact developed in Pakistan. Mitron which crossed 5 million downloads within a month is claimed to be created by Qboxus, a Pakistan based app development company.

Irfan Sheikh, founder of Qboxus said in a statement that the source code of Mitron was sold in mere $34. The buyer is expected to use the code and create something of their own. Sheikh said, “But Mitron’s developer has taken our exact product, changed the logo and uploaded it on their store.” The practice is common around the world where white label apps are sold to create apps in no time and earn immediate revenues through ads.

Sheikh finds the situation quite strange as the app has been publicized as “Made in India” while there has been no change in the code. The clone app for TikTok created by Qboxus is called TicTic which it sold to ShopKiller who then rebranded it as Mitron. Even though the app was curated in Pakistan, the unidentified publisher and owner of app who added it on Google Play Store is said to be Indian.

According to the reports, the location entered by the publisher is ‘Uttarakhand’ while buying the domain from GoDaddy. Sheikh claims that the code was bought on CodeCanyon and the buyer did not use Qboxus’s server to host data. This means that the publisher as been using his own server to host the application and user data.

Mitron has no privacy policy, user policy and terms of use on its platform which brings it under the eyes of cybersecurity experts and privacy advocates. Shopkiller said that the publisher is working in a secret mode and did not want their name to be public. They stated, “I would have liked you to appreciate the fact that we are working hard on the app, and the reason for developing the app was just to give a ‘Make in India’ alternative to people.”

The app rose to popularity due to the wrath TikTok has been facing for its Chinese origin. Now when the app is declared to be developed in Pakistan, the chances of it still staying in people’s mobile phones are slim considering Indians have always seen the neighboring country as an Enemy.

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