TL; DR
- A new study from Mozilla claims that data security labels in the Google Play Store do not adequately protect privacy.
- Mozilla found that nearly 80% of the apps it reviewed had false or misleading data security labels.
- Twitter and TikTok were among the worst offenders in the group.
Google has implemented data security ratings to help users protect their data while using Play Store. A new study shows that Google’s commitment to data privacy may be overstated.
Back in April 2022, Google introduced Data security labels to the Play Store. This new privacy-focused section requires apps on its platform to report how they collect and manage data and user privacy. The goal is to inform the user so they can make better decisions about which apps they want to download. Think of it like nutrition labels on food telling you how healthy it is, but for your personal information.
While this may sound well and good on the surface, it appears that Google may not be enforcing its policy as well as it should. Study – See No Evil: How loopholes in the Google Play Store’s data security labels leave businesses in the clear and consumers in the dark – Mozilla reports that nearly 80% of the apps I tested had misleading or misleading labels.
According to the internet company, its researchers have reviewed the top 20 paid apps and the top 20 free apps on the Play Store. Each app is rated Poor, Needs Improvement, or OK. If an app receives a poor rating, that means there are significant discrepancies between its data security designations and its actual privacy policies. A good rating means that an app’s policies closely align with its label. And those with a Needs Improvement score fell somewhere in between.
Of the 40 apps reviewed by Mozilla, 16 (40%) received a bad score. This included software like Minecraft, Facebook, and more. However, Twitter and TikTok were among the worst offenders, according to the findings.
There were 15 apps (37.5%) that received a needs improvement rating. This suite has a few of its own Google apps, including YouTube, Google Maps, and Gmail. These apps have also been joined by Instagram and WhatsApp.
Only six apps managed to achieve a good score. Those apps were:
- Candy Crush Saga
- Google Play Games
- Subway skaters
- Stickman Legends offline games
- Power Amp Full Version Unlocker
- League of Stickman: Ninja 2020
As for the rest of the apps on the list, they didn’t get any score. The reason is that they did not fill out the data security form. These apps are UC Browser – Safe, Fast & Private; Stickman Best Acti League; and Terraria.
This is a problem because these apps may share your data with advertisers, ISPs, platforms, and many other types of companies.
The failure of these apps to accurately report their policies rests in part with Google and how it handles its policies. Google states that apps on its platform are “responsible for providing complete and accurate data,” which puts the onus on someone else.
“Consumers care about privacy and want to make smart decisions when downloading apps,” says Gene Caltrader, Mozilla Project Lead. Google’s data security labels should help them do that. Unfortunately, they don’t. Instead, I worry that they do more harm than good. When I see data security labels that say apps like Twitter or TikTok don’t share data with third parties, it makes me angry because it’s completely untrue. Of course, Twitter and TikTok share data with third parties. Consumers deserve better. Google should do better.”