Research notes Additional research on Chen Ningyi, the Qihoo 360 subsidiary, and the app developer company Guangzhou Quanyong:

According to a Chinese corporate data aggregator, in December 2019—the same month Qihoo 360 purchased the app-related companies Lemon Seed, Lemon Clove, and Autumn Breeze—Qihoo 360 set up a subsidiary in China called Guangzhou Qihoo Technology Co., Ltd. In April 2020, this Qihoo 360 subsidiary changed it address to the same one listed for the app developer company Guangzhou Quanyong (aka SpringTech). The subsidiary then changed its name in January 2021 to Guangzhou Lianchuang Technology Co., Ltd. Qihoo 360 sold the subsidiary in March 2023 to a small tech firm called Beijing Liefeng Technology Co., Ltd. At that time, Chen Ningyi was added to the subsidiary’s board of directors and made its legal representative. He stayed in those positions for a year before being replaced by the owner of Beijing Liefeng. As noted previously, a person named Chen Ningyi worked for Qihoo 360. The above sequence of events, with Chen Ningyi holding a key position at Beijing Liefeng for a year, raises questions about whether Qihoo 360 exercises some control or influence over the smaller tech firm. Qihoo 360 and Beijing Liefeng did not respond to questions about the relationship between the two companies. The subsidiary, Guangzhou Lianchuang, still appears to be active. On one Chinese job website, it describes itself as a company “focusing on the research and development and promotion of mobile Internet apps in overseas markets,” with offices in Singapore, Guangzhou, and Beijing.
Additional research connecting Guangzhou Quanyong Information Technology Co., Ltd. with the Innovative Connecting family of apps:

Chinese copyright data maintained by a Chinese corporate data aggregator indicates that Guangzhou Quanyong developed Snap VPN, which has been identified as part of the Innovative Connecting family of apps. The company also developed an app called Muslim Prayer, which is not available in the U.S. Apple App Store but is advertised on the website for ALL Connected, one of the Innovative Connecting entities. Data catalogued by a Chinese corporate record aggregator shows that Guangzhou Quanyong listed the email address [email protected] in its 2015 annual report, using the same domain as ALL Connected’s website. The following year, Guangzhou Quanyong listed the email [email protected], using a domain that is registered to Innovative Connecting in Singapore. Additional research showing that “SpringTech” is the English name for Guangzhou Quanyong Information Technology Co., Ltd.:

The PitchBook profile showing Qihoo acquired “SpringTech” gave an office address for SpringTech that matched the address for Guangzhou Quanyong in Chinese corporate records. (The profile also listed SpringTech’s website as acnet.co, a domain registered to Innovative Connecting in Singapore.) A profile of Guangzhou Quanyong on Job5156.com, a Chinese job recruitment website, gave “SpringTech” as its English name. A page for “Spring Tech” on the app analytics site Sensor Tower gave the company’s Chinese name as Guangzhou Quanyong. Innovative Connecting is listed as the owner of springtech.info on a list of web publishers maintained by the digital ad platform Liftoff. Following are the remainder of the 20 apps not named in the body of the report. The lifetime U.S. downloads are from AppMagic:

#5, Ostrich VPN

Listed developer: GeWare Technology Limited Lifetime U.S. downloads according to AppMagic: >5,000,000 According to Hong Kong records, GeWare Technology Limited is a dissolved company whose sole shareholder was a Chinese citizen with a mainland China address. The Ostrich VPN website now gives the company name as Geware Mobile Limited. That is a Hong Kong company owned by a Chinese citizen who lists a Hong Kong address, according to corporate records. (The address, written in Chinese, matches that of a Hong Kong office building, which does not appear to have any residential component, according to its website.) #38, HulaVPN

Listed developer: Hula Link Technology Co., Ltd. Lifetime U.S. downloads according to AppMagic: >1,000,000 The app is available both on the Apple App Store and Google Play store, but no information about the company is given on either page. TTP identified nothing with the name “Hula Link Technology” in searches of various global corporate records databases. However, the HTML code on the app’s Google Play page gives the developer’s name, in Chinese, as Guangzhou Hula Network Technology Co. Ltd. and gives an address for the company in Guangzhou, China. #43, VPN Ⓟ (removed from App Store)

This app was taken down at some point in 2024 before the URL was archived. Information on the app is still available on AppMagic. Lifetime U.S. downloads according to AppMagic: >200,000 TTP was unable to find information on Top Free App, the developer of VPN Ⓟ, in any corporate records database. The app used a logo that matches that of the VPN Bucks app described earlier in this report. AppMagic’s description of VPN Ⓟ, pulled from the app’s now-defunct App Store page, indicates it was formerly called VPN Bucks Lite and had a privacy policy and terms of service for “VPN Bucks.” As noted previously, VPN Bucks traces back to a now-dissolved Hong Kong-registered company that was owned by a Chinese citizen with an address in southern China. #48, Best V2ray (removed from App Store)

Listed developer: Swan Technology Co., Ltd Lifetime U.S. downloads according to AppMagic: >500,000 The privacy policy of this VPN lists its contact information as Swan Technology Ltd. in Shenzhen Futian, with an email address ending in qq.com. The qq.com email address is Chinese and “Shenzhen Futian” is an apparent reference to Futian, a district of Shenzhen, Guangdong province. TTP was unable to find an exact match for this company registered in Shenzhen. Its English name is likely unofficial. #51, Alphaoo Net (removed from the App Store)

Listed developer: QUICK STONE NETWORK TECHNOLOGY LIMITED Lifetime U.S. downloads according to AppMagic: >200,000 Quick Stone is a company registered in Hong Kong. Hong Kong corporate records indicate its sole shareholder is a Chinese citizen with a Hong Kong address. #78, SwiftLink VPN (removed from App Store)

Listed developer: JOYFUL DOG (HK) CO., LIMITED Lifetime U.S. downloads according to AppMagic: >200,000 This app was taken down at some point in early January 2025, before the URL was archived. Information on the app is still available on AppMagic. Hong Kong corporate records show the sole officer/shareholder of Joyful Dog is a Chinese citizen with an address in mainland China. #84, Speedy Quark VPN

Listed developer: Hefei Single Machine Placement Technology Co., Ltd. Lifetime U.S. downloads according to AppMagic: >2,000,000 Hefei Single Machine is a subsidiary of Anhui Letang Holding Group Co., Ltd., a privately held company based in Anhui province, China, according to Chinese corporate record data aggregator Qichacha. The app's terms of service linked from the App Store page give the jurisdiction as the People's Republic of China. #86, Now VPN

Listed developer: World Creation Technology Limited Lifetime U.S. downloads according to AppMagic: >200,000 Hong Kong corporate records show that World Creation’s sole shareholder and officer is a Chinese citizen, who lists an address identical to that of the company's Hong Kong registered agent (indicating they likely do not live at that address). An archived version of the App Store page shows it previously listed its developer as CTECH GLOBAL PTE LTD, which is a Singapore company with two shareholders, one Canadian and one Chinese. The Chinese CTECH shareholder, Zhao Faming, was described as the company’s founder in an article on the Hong Kong Trade Development Council website. The article also stated that CTECH had a branch in Guangzhou, China. TTP found no information on the relationship between CTECH and World Creation. #87, Incognito Net (removed from App Store)

Listed developer: Meteor Network Technology Limited Lifetime U.S. downloads according to AppMagic: >200,000 This app was taken down before TTP began its investigation, but relevant information is available on AppMagic. Hong Kong corporate records that show the sole officer/shareholder of Meteor Network Technology is a Chinese citizen with an address in mainland China. #100, Pearl VPN

Listed developer: Xian YuanChuangYouPin Network Tech Limited Lifetime U.S. downloads according to AppMagic: >500,000 According to Chinese corporate data aggregator Qichacha, this is a company in Xi'an, China. There is very little publicly available information about it.