Over 50 Organizations Ask Google To Take a Stand Against Android Bloatware

In an open letter published yesterday, more than 50 organizations have asked Google to take action against Android smartphone vendors who ship devices with unremovable pre-installed apps, also known as bloatware. From a report: The letter, signed by 53 organizations, was addressed to Google CEO Sundar Pichai. Signees say Android bloatware has a detrimental effect on user privacy. They say many bloatware apps cannot be deleted and leave users exposed to having their data collected by unscrupulous phone vendors and app makers without their knowledge or consent. "These pre-installed apps can have privileged custom permissions that let them operate outside the Android security model," the open letter reads. "This means permissions can be defined by the app - including access to the microphone, camera and location - without triggering the standard Android security prompts. Users are therefore completely in the dark about these serious intrusions." The signees cite research from March 2018 that found that the Android ecosystem of pre-installed apps is a privacy and security mess. According to the research, 91% of all tested pre-installed apps weren't available on the official Google Play Store.

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