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| Google closes Android apps that track websites in background |
Google has started imposing new restrictions on Android apps to check if the app needs access to data through a new verification process so that users ’locations can be tracked in the background.
The American tech giant announced the changes earlier this week in a blog post for Android developers. The company announced that as of August 3 next year, all new Google Play apps requiring background access to the website must be passed. The company will start reviewing all existing applications on November 3rd.
Although location tracking is necessary for many applications and services, it can be of interest to us if we place random requests. One of the worst cases is tracking a website, as this can happen at any time without the user's knowledge. The new review process requires apps to justify the need to use the feature and reduce tracking if it is not available.
Google said: This review process checks that the main functionality of the app can actually access the website in the background. The company added that the move will have no impact on social media applications that allow users to share their websites continuously with friends.
It is worth noting that these changes were announced as part of the new Android 11 update. This is a step for Apple (iOS 13) systems to prevent apps from receiving secret privileges and use them only once. IOS 13 notifies the user every time a website app follows in the background. However, this feature does not apply to the Apple app itself, which has been criticized by some developers. Instead, Google has confirmed that the policy applies even to its apps.