Google Remotely Removes Android Apps

From PC World: Google disclosed in a blog post on Thursday that it remotely removed two applications from Android phones that ran contrary to the terms of the Android Market.

A security researcher built and offered the free applications "for research purposes," wrote Rich Cannings, Android security lead, in the blog post. The application descriptions misrepresented their purpose in order to encourage downloads, he said.

The apps weren't used maliciously and didn't have permission to access private data, and because they were essentially useless, most users uninstalled them quickly, he said.

The author of the applications has removed them from the Android Market and Google has remotely removed the apps from phones that had downloaded them. Google notifies users when it removes an application from their phones.

It's unclear why Google chose to publicly discuss the removal of this particular application on its blog. Last year, in a filing with the U.S. Federal Communications Commission, Google said that it had taken down about 1 percent of applications that had been uploaded to the Android Market because they failed to comply with Google's terms. It does not describe such takedowns on its blog each time they happen.

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