Do not adjust your resolution; Google is in control of your Android phone.
Much like an episode of the Twilight Zone, this is both confusing and slightly irritating for Android users who have found themselves at the sharp end of Google’s terms of service. There’s not many of us who bother to read the small print, but in this case Google have used it to full effect leaving Android owners wondering exactly what they have agreed to.
This whole issue has stemmed from two particular apps built by a security developer which supposedly violated the Android Market Developer Distribution Agreement or Content Policy. Sound like a mouthful? Well, the particular problem seems to have been that the applications had basically misrepresented their purpose in order to encourage user downloads. In this case it wasn’t that the applications where malicious, just that they weren’t what they where advertised as. As such Google set about removing the applications from the Google Apps Store, before turning their attention to remotely removing them from user’s phones.
Killswitch Enrage
Here’s where the issues really took hold as many Android phone owners where left slightly confused or perplexed by the fact that applications where removed from their phone without their prior knowledge. While the apps where free, it still constituted somewhat of a kick in the teeth to users.
Of course this isn’t a new thing, as other major players such as Apple also have this kill switch feature built into their terms of service for the use of applications, and Amazon’s Kindle service received some severe scrutiny for a similar withdrawal recently. It seems perhaps that users should spend more time reading the terms and conditions than downloading dodgy applications.
Google unsurprisingly maintain that the kill switch is in place purely to be used for good and to ensure the integrity of the Android operating system. While it’s undeniable that such a measure should be kept in place for security purposes, it does leave Android users somewhat vulnerable to the will of Google. Who knows what will prompt the removal of the next app?No doubt it’s only a matter of time now that the flood gates have been opened.
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