Google’s Warning on location-sharing apps: Google has warned app developers that they need to be clear with users about the information they share with Huq, a British firm that sells location data.
Apps that do not follow Google’s data policy risk being removed from the Play store, according to the company. It follows after Huq revealed to the BBC that at least two app partners had not obtained all necessary permissions.
Huq stated that the company took data security “extremely seriously” and that all partners were now in compliance.
Google said: “As part of our investigation, we have sent a warning to all app developers that we determined were in violation of Google Play policies.”
But it wouldn’t say how many application developers had been warned.
Huq’s chief executive Conrad Poulson said: “We continue to take the matter of data protection and consent very seriously and actively support any initiative designed to make improvements in this regard.
“It is extremely important to us that we continue to work alongside our partners to help ensure privacy best practices are implemented and maintained.”
Google’s Warning on location-sharing apps, Huq said it was not aware of any instances where a user’s security had been put at risk by using one of its apps.
It also added that the data collected in this way is anonymized and aggregated, so can’t be used to identify individuals.
The company partners with third-party applications which feedback information on things like a user’s location and weather. This data is then sold on to councils and other clients.
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