How Google's latest move means bad news for thousands of apps

Internet search giant Google is trying its best to eliminate any chances of any data breach via its Play Store platform. The company has updated its Privacy, Security, and Deception policy and added a class of "fake ID apps."

The update in the Google's Developer Policy Center says, “We (Google) don’t allow apps that help users to mislead others, including, but not limited to, apps that generate or facilitate the generation of ID cards, social security numbers, passports, diplomas, credit cards and driver’s licenses”. The list also includes apps that exist 'just for fun' or 'as a prank'."
A quick search of fake ID apps on Google Play Store reveals plethora of such apps. Google has neither revealed the names of these apps nor given a timeline of the removal, perhaps making it a gradual takedown.

Earlier this year, Google had a major clean-up when it removed over seven lakh malicious apps from Play Store in 2017 that violated its policies.

Google has developed new detection models and techniques that can identify repeat offenders and abusive developer networks at scale. Google also took down 100,000 bad developers in 2017.

"Not only did we remove more bad apps, we were able to identify and take action against them earlier. This was possible through significant improvements in our ability to detect abuse -- such as impersonation, inappropriate content, or malware -- through new Machine Learning models and techniques," Andrew Ahn, Product Manager, Google Play, said in a blog post.

Potentially Harmful Applications (PHAs) are a type of malware that can harm people or their devices - like apps that conduct SMS fraud, act as trojans or phishing user's information.

"With the launch of Google Play Protect in 2017, the annual PHA installs rates on Google Play was reduced by 50 per cent year over year," the post said.