April 29, 2024 at 01:53PM
Google revealed that in 2023, almost 200,000 app submissions on the Play Store were rejected or fixed due to access to sensitive data issues. The company also blocked 333,000 bad accounts attempting to spread malware. Investments in security features, policy updates, and partnerships with SDK providers improved privacy for over 31 SDKs impacting 790K+ apps.
Key Takeaways from Meeting Notes:
– Google revealed that it rejected or fixed almost 200,000 app submissions to its Play Store for Android due to issues with access to sensitive data, such as location or SMS messages over the past year.
– The tech giant also mentioned blocking 333,000 bad accounts from the app storefront in 2023 for distributing malware or repeated policy violations.
– In 2023, Google prevented 2.28 million policy-violating apps from being published on Google Play, partly due to investments in new security features, policy updates, and advanced machine learning and app review processes.
– Google strengthened developer onboarding and review processes, requiring more identity information and a verification process for Play Console developer accounts.
– The App Defense Alliance (ADA) moved under the Linux Foundation umbrella, with Meta and Microsoft as founding steering members.
– Google rolled out real-time scanning at the code level to tackle novel Android malware and introduced an “Independent security review” badge in the Play Store’s Data safety section for VPN apps that have undergone a Mobile Application Security Assessment (MASA) audit.
– Approximately 1.5 million applications were taken down from the Play Store that do not target the most recent APIs.
– Google filed a lawsuit in the U.S. against two China-based fraudsters allegedly engaged in an international online consumer investment fraud scheme, tricking users into downloading fake apps and stealing their funds from the Play Store and other sources.