Google Bans Personal Loan Apps From Accessing Contacts And Photos From User Devices

• Google will not allow personal loan apps to collect personal data
• Photos, videos, contacts, call logs, and external media will not be allowed to be accessed by these apps 
• Changes are coming to apps in Play Store from May 31

Google has been actively combating the threat of personal loan apps and the misuse of user data by predatory loan apps in India. 

Google updated the Personal Loan app policy on Wednesday to prohibit these apps from accessing external storage, images, videos, precise location, contacts, and call logs. This change will come into effect from May 31.

“Apps that provide personal loans, or have the primary purpose of facilitating access to personal loans (i.e., lead generators or facilitators), are prohibited from accessing sensitive data, such as photos and contacts,” Google said in the update. 

These are the permissions prohibited:

• Read_external_storage
• Read_media_images
• Read_contacts
• Access_fine_location
• Read_phone_numbers
• Read_media_videos

Google previously banned several predatory loan apps from Play Store on various occasions. This is a welcome step in combating predatory loan apps, as the primary way the agents of such apps threaten is by calling the contacts and phone numbers collected from users’ phones. Frequent calling and harassment of friends and family by the associates of these loan apps have even resulted in users giving up on their lives. There have been various such cases in India in recent times. 

Google first blocked hundreds of loan apps initially, then blocked thousands of apps. The company then made changes to its policy, stating that only licensed loan apps would be allowed in Play Store. 

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