As there are many valid complaints about how Google moderates the Play Store, there are also valid complaints about how Google doesn’t overdo it. With so many apps already being released on the App Store and how many new apps are being released each year, it’s not surprising to see Google tweak its policies in light of the latest threats each year.
Misinformation was a big concern last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic and U.S. presidential elections, which is why Google’s latest blog post about combatting bad apps on Google Play focused so much on it.
Google says that by 2020, Google Play Protect will scan more than 100 billion installed applications every day for malware. These apps have been installed on billions of devices that have Google Mobile Services installed and include both completely secure and potentially malicious apps. Google is constantly updating its Play Protect database to find companies with new malware entries and potentially harmful applications.
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Moving forward, Google published how they imposed specific requirements for COVID-19 apps that were submitted to the Play Store last year. The company says it only allowed applications supported by official government agencies or public health organizations to be published on the Play Store.
These applications were required to meet a high standard for user data privacy. Most recently, both Apple and Google refused to update the UK’s COVID-19 application for failing to comply with previously agreed privacy rules.
In the early months of the presidential election, Google added the minimum requirements that they must meet in order to declare apps as “News” apps on Google Play. The purpose of these requirements was to prevent low-quality publications from appearing on the Play Store with more reputable people.
More often than not, Google created teams and processes that focused specifically on elections. Google has provided assistance to government agencies, trained application reviews, and the addition of a security team to address threats to election integrity.
Lastly, Google highlights how its advanced app review process and improved machine learning investigation capabilities have blocked many policy-violating apps from going to Google Play. The company says it is blocking the release of 962k policy-violating apps on the Play Store and has also banned 119k malicious and spammy developer accounts.
In the future, Google will continue to focus on SDK enforcement, as SDK violations have “an outsized impact on security and user data privacy.” The company recently implemented its new background location policy to ensure that apps that use explicit apps always have times access to the device’s location.
