Google Also Found Offering A Data Collection App

It’s no secret that Google is collecting a ton of data on us. The more we use its services, the things we search for, the videos we watched, all of this is used to find out things about us which is then used for targeted advertising. However it seems that Google might have actually gone one step further with an app called Screenwise Meter that offered rewards to users in exchange for their data.

In a report from TechCrunch, it was discovered that Google’s Screenwise Meter was allegedly abusing Apple’s employee-only apps to help circumvent Apple’s App Store and collect data on users. This is similar to what Facebook had done in which it was recently found out that Facebook was also paying users to collect data on them.

While neither Google nor Facebook hid their intentions with the apps, the fact that they used the employee-only certification, which is meant for internal use only, makes it look very shady, as if both companies knew that such apps would never have gotten Apple’s approval through more conventional methods. Apple has since reportedly disabled Facebook’s internal iOS apps.

Google has since released a statement to TechCrunch in which they announced that they would removing the app. “The Screenwise Meter iOS app should not have operated under Apple’s developer enterprise program — this was a mistake, and we apologize. We have disabled this app on iOS devices. This app is completely voluntary and always has been. We’ve been upfront with users about the way we use their data in this app, we have no access to encrypted data in apps and on devices, and users can opt out of the program at any time.”

Google Also Found Offering A Data Collection App , original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.