Based on research by Pixalate, the two tech giants, Google and Apple, have started taking action and removing apps.
25% of apps deleted by Google and 59% of apps deleted by Apple had one thing in common: all had no user privacy policies.
The privacy policy was not the only basis for being removed from the list by Google, the report shows that 66% of these apps required permission from the user which was considered dangerous, similarly to gain access to the user’s GPS location and be able to reach the device. % and 19% of applications to be deleted respectively.
According to data published by Pixelate, they analyzed more than 5 million applications in the first half of 2021 present on the Google Play Store and the Apple App store. Of those 5 million apps, fifteen percent or roughly 813,000 apps were delisted in the first 6 months of the current year to target children under 12. Deleted apps had over 9 billion installs on the Play Store before being removed while those in the App Store had over 21 million user reviews. However, even after being kicked out from their respective stores, these apps will still be installed on the user’s phone.
The excluded applications can have different reasons. Either action can be taken by the store moderator when an application is unable to satisfy them with their policies. On the other hand, it can also be done if the app developer himself removes his own app. The Analysis report which was published by the Pixalate contains no reason for the apps that were deleted, so it’s still not clear if the app was deleted by the store or by the app developer.
Read more: In a world where privacy is optional, what is the cost of personal data
