Google removes privacy feature from Android, claims release was accidental

Google removes privacy feature from Android, claims release was accidental

Google has reportedly removed an experimental privacy feature from Android OS, much to the anger of users. The feature allowed users to block apps from collecting personal data such as location and address book information. The change was noticed with the Android 4.4.2 update. The feature was first found on the Android 4.3 Jelly Bean update and was termed as a handy tool to install apps, without letting them glance through important data on the phone. The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) reported that the App Ops privacy feature has been removed quietly from the current android update that’s rolling out for Nexus devices.

App ops removed from KitKat

Google, in a comment to the EFF mentioned that the feature’s release was merely an accident and that it was experimental. The company claimed that the feature would end up breaking certain apps that were policed by it. The EFF, however, writes that this comes across as a suspicious move and that Google could have improved the feature instead of removing it altogether. "The disappearance of App Ops is alarming news for Android users," Peter Eckersley of the EFF writes, “The fact that they cannot turn off app permissions is a Stygian hole in the Android security model, and a billion people's data is being sucked through. Embarrassingly, it is also one that Apple managed to fix in iOS years ago.”The EFF, as well as Android users aware of the tool, are now pushing for a re-release of the App Ops on the OS. The demand is that Android users should be allowed to disable all collection of trackable identifiers by an app with a single switch. This includes data like phone numbers, IMEIs and information about user accounts. There should also be a way to disable an app’s network entirely and the App Ops interface needs to be smoothened out and properly integrated into the main OS user interface, is what the EFF is now demanding. The issue here is that not a lot of Android users were even aware of the App Ops feature till very recently. What Google says can possibly be acceptable on face value; the activation of the App Ops feature was so deep into the Settings menu that it is possible that its release was accidental. However, Google should now look at making this tool as helpful as possible for not just the users but even developers who could potentially end up with broken apps because of it.

(With inputs from agencies)

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