The more Google works to make apps on the Play Store safer and less intrusive, the more skeletons seem to come out of the closet. The latest is a revelation from malware expert Lucas Stefanko with ESET. He has identified apps running on Google’s ecosystem that borrow inputs from the Google Maps app and then pass them on to their customers for a fee!
However, Google reacted quickly and moved to do damage control. Many of the apps identified by Stefanko have been removed from the Play Store . The majority of these are in the GPS and navigation sectors this time . And these apps have already been “downloaded” and are being used by over 50 million users worldwide. These people obviously didn’t know that what they were using were not official Google apps, but fake ones. Google has a proper policy on these things, but app operators are taking advantage of the weakness of the Google ecosystem that allows them to get by and operate with no punishment.
Google also has an additional tool called Play Protect. The job of this tool is mainly to detect such fake apps and isolate them. Google really has a long way to go before it fixes these problems. Once again, comparisons will be made with Apple's iOS, which has a much more secure ecosystem. It's not long before users start to feel that the higher cost Apple for its devices and software may finally be worth every cent and consider making a switch there.
With Google's technological treasure trove, and especially its pioneering work in the field of artificial intelligence, it shouldn't be difficult for Google to come back with answers to these issues.
