50 privacy groups ask Pichai to safeguard Android users

San Francisco: More than 50 privacy groups including American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and UK-based Privacy International have called on Google and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai to take action against pre-installed ‘bloatware’ on Android devices as they pose security risk to customers.

“Android Partners – who use the Android trademark and branding – are manufacturing devices that contain pre-installed apps that cannot be deleted (often known as ‘bloatware’), which can leave users vulnerable to their data being collected, shared and exposed without their knowledge or consent,” Privacy International said in a statement.

These phones carry the “Google Play Protect” branding, but research shows that 91 per cent of pre-installed apps do not appear in Google Play Store.