The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday that dozens of apps, including Muslim prayer apps, a speed-trap alert app, and a QR-code reader, were removed from the Google Play Store around March 25 after researchers discovered software for secretly collecting user data developed by a company with ties to US security agencies.
According to a report published Friday by University of Calgary researcher Joel Reardon and Serge Egelman, a researcher at the University of Calgary’s International Computer Science Institute, popular apps that contained the secret data-harvesting software include Speed Camera Radar, Al-Moazin Lite (Prayer Times), and WiFi Mouse (remote control PC), each with over 10 million downloads, and QR & Barcode Scanner and Qibla Compass – Ramadan 2022, each with over
According to the Wall Street Journal, the Panama-based corporation Measurement Systems S. de R.L. paid app developers to incorporate its code in their software, allowing Measurement Systems to collect data from millions of users throughout the world.
A Google spokeswoman informed the Wall Street Journal that apps banned for unauthorised data harvesting can ask to be reinstated in the Google Play Store provided the problematic code is removed.
According to Reardon and Egelman of the Wall Street Journal, Measurement Systems’ software was included in at least 60 million apps, albeit the programme purportedly ceased gathering user data after the researchers publicised their discovery.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Google initiated an inquiry when Reardon and Egelman told them of the malware, culminating in the March 25 bans.
Forbes reached out to Google and Measurement Systems for comment, but neither company responded right away.
Keywords: Wall Street Journal, Google and Measurement Systems, Spyware, Google Apps
