Google drops over 100 personal loan apps

Google drops over 100 personal loan apps

New Delhi: 15.01.021

Google said on Thursday that it has reviewed hundreds of personal loan apps from its online PlayStore in India, and then removed an unspecified number of apps, based on flags submitted by users and government agencies, reports Anam Ajmal.

Although Google did not give any details of the number of apps which were taken off PlayStore, fintech expert Srikanth L said it had removed at least 118 apps in the last 10 days. “The apps that were found to violate our user safety policies were immediately removed from the Store, and we have asked the developers of the remaining identified apps to demonstrate that they comply with applicable local laws and regulations,” it said in a blog.

Demand for mobiles crosses pre-Covid level

Festival demand in November drove the value of instore credit card purchases to 109% of pre-Covid levels. Other segments where the transaction value has crossed pre-Covid levels include mobile phones, consumer durables, computers, hospitals, petrol pumps, gems & jewellery & automobiles. P 15

Police asked Google to remove apps

Google informed about the removal of apps in a blog, published by Suzanne Frey, VP, product, Android security and privacy. Recently, the Telangana police busted several rackets which involved fraudulent loan apps offering credit to users at exceptionally high rates and then blackmailing them for repayment by using several tactics, including threats. The police had also asked Google to remove 158 apps from PlayStore. The blog also clarified that “to protect user privacy, developers must only request permissions that are necessary to implement current features or services”. “They should not use permissions that give access to user or device data for undisclosed, unimplemented, or disallowed features or purposes,” it added.