Spring-Cleaning at Google Play: Bye Toxic Apps

Giving apps a chance

Let’s not beat about the bush: Google and privacy policies are two terms that often alarm people when put together – and for very good reasons. This time, however, Google’s intentions are very noble; in fact, it is actually being saluted by the community for its efforts towards a “cleaner” Play Store. In order to achieve so, Google is sending notices to developers whose apps have no privacy policies or don’t comply with Google’s User Data policy. The notice gives two chances for developers to assure that their apps are not deleted: either they create a proper privacy policy or remove the requests for private and sensitive user data.

Recognized efforts

The cleanup (due on March 15th, 2017) was more than necessary: according to a 2014 study, 85% of the apps were unsafe, as they failed to provide adequate information regarding privacy. Even though this will result in a less crowded Play Store, the cleansing will not affect third-party apps and, let’s be honest, Google will still have plenty of tricks up its sleeves to monitor you.

To avoid that, you should consider the use of a VPN for mobile. A VPN not only allows you to access other countries’ Play Stores, but it also guarantees that all your data is encrypted and protected by the world’s finest security protocols.