We know that time from to time, companies like Apple, Google, and Microsoft remove apps from their respective app stores for violating certain policies, but apart from removing it from the app store, could these companies also remotely delete these apps from the handsets that they have been installed on?
Well that’s what one Brazilian judge is asking companies like Apple, Google, and Microsoft to do by asking them to not only remove apps like Secret and Cryptic from their app stores, but to remotely wipe them from handsets as well. The reason for the removal of the app is because they allow for anonymous postings, which according to public prosecutor, Marcelo Zenkner, is a violation of Brazil’s constitution.
Given that apps like Secret (see screenshot above) and Cryptic allows for anonymous postings, naturally this did not sit well with the prosecution, thus their removal. However the question here is can companies like Apple, Microsoft, and Google actually delete apps from the phones they have been installed on?
As far as Apple is concerned, the company has a blacklist in which they are able to disable apps by revoking its certificate. However this does not delete an app, but merely disables them. However so far that mechanism has yet to be used, meaning that this could be the first public instance in which Apple will actually be forced to use it.