(Yicai Global) July 13 -- Kingsoft Office Software has blocked access to a link on its widely used Writer, Presentation and Spreadsheets office suite (WPS) that was allegedly used to share illegal documents online, the Chinese software developer said today in response to rumors that it is deleting users’ files.

Kingsoft protects customer privacy and does not examine, lock or delete any files but the firm will check online documents shared through its cloud service as required by the country’s cyber security law, Kingsoft Office said.

Rumors were circulating on social media on July 11 that the Beijing-based company was deleting users’ files and infringing their privacy. Local files could easily be accidentally uploaded to the WPS cloud and converted into online documents due to the design of many could-friendly services, a blogger on Twitter-like Weibo said.

WPS has grown from a word processing tool into a link sharing tool, a cyber security insider told Yicai Global. Users can choose to close the cloud file syncing feature to protect their data or they can elect to use a computer-based program to process private documents so as to avoid sharing such documents online.

All platforms offering information services are obliged to verify the data shared on the platforms, according to the country’s cyber security law.

Cloud services are an important feature of Kingsoft Office, which has become one of China's most popular office suites. The firm reported 544 million monthly active devices using its main products as of Dec. 31 last year, according to its 2021 financial report.

Editor: Kim Taylor