Google banned dozens of apps with hidden data-harvesting code
JHVEPhoto/iStock Editorial via Getty Images


Google ((NASDAQ:GOOG) -2.7%, (NASDAQ:GOOGL) -2.9%) has banned dozens of apps from its Google Play store after finding they include a piece that surreptitiously harvests data.
That offending code comes from a Panamanian company linked through records to a Virginia defense contractor, the WSJ reports.

The Panamanian company, Measurement Systems, paid developers worldwide to incorporate its software development kit into apps. And the code (discovered by two researchers) ran on millions of Android devices, inside popular consumer apps including several Muslim prayer apps, a highway speed-trap detection app, and a QR code-reading app.
Google says apps containing Measurement Systems' software were removed from the Play Store as of March 25; a spokesman says the apps could be relisted if the offending software is removed (and some are already back).
The code could continue gathering data on phones where it's installed, however. The two researchers, Serge Egelman and Joel Reardon, found the code stopped collecting data and unplugged itself shortly after they began publicizing their findings.