Google Removes A Bunch Of Apps That Could Be Used For Stalking

In this day and age, being able to look up someone’s information online is pretty easy, especially when in the age of social media, everyone seems to be more than willing to share their personal lives with complete strangers on the internet. This in turn has created a problem in which stalking someone from the comfort of your own home has become a thing.

However, Google wants to cut down on that and has since taken down a bunch of apps found in the Google Play Store that could potentially allow users to stalk others. This is based on a report from Avast in which they found seven apps in the Play Store that have the ability to track and send location data, along with private contacts, your call logs, and even your text messages.

The problem with these apps is that they often disguise themselves as innocent apps, where according to Avast, one of the apps involved disguised itself as a way to keep kids safe. According to Nikolaos Chrysaidos, Avast’s head of mobile threat intelligence and security, “Some of these apps are offered as parental control apps, but their descriptions draw a different picture, telling users the app allows them to ‘keep an eye on cheaters.'”

That being said, Google has since removed the offending apps, although we imagine that this is a problem that will probably never go away. So the next time you download an app, you might want to double check the reviews to look for warning signs, and also the permissions it requires just to be safe.

Tyler Lee
Categories: Cellphones
Tags: Android, Apps, Google, Privacy