Google Play Store takes down 14 apps in Pakistan

Islamabad [Pakistan], February 18 (ANI): As per National Database and Registration Authority’s (NADRA) request, Google has taken down 14 applications from its app store due to a breach of the personal information of Pakistani residents, reported Dawn.

NADRA officially took up the matter with the Alphabet-owned US tech company regarding the breach of the personal data of Pakistani residents.

According to documents viewed by Dawn, the authority brought the topic to the attention of Scott Beaumont, Google’s president for Asia Pacific, Hiang Choong, the legal head for the region, and Stephanie Davis, the vice president for customer solutions at the company.

In a letter written to Google on “Breach of Personal Data of Residents and their Privacy by Application Providers on Google Play Store”, Nadra described this issue as “important and urgent” and stated that the issue “involving the personal data of residents of Pakistan, which is being illegally sold and/or shared by various applications (apps) hosted on your platform and available on Google Play Store”.

It said the apps were “illegally and deceptively” using NADRA’s name and products to impersonate and deceive users with the impression that the apps were in some manner either officially linked with, authorised or operated by NADRA, and hence “obtain unwarranted credibility for their apps and services”.

According to NADRA, the recently removed apps were using its name and products illegally and deceptively to trick users into believing that the apps were in some way affiliated with, authorized by, or operated by them.

As a result, the apps gained undeserved credibility for their services. They were obtaining personal data from Pakistani residents, violating Google’s impersonation policy since it prohibits users from pretending to be someone else, reported Dawn.