Google pulls down some personal loan apps over violating user safety policies

New Delhi, January 15: After RBI flagged off several personal loan apps, search engine giant Google India has taken down personal loan apps that violate user safety policies from its Android platform Play Store. Google said it reviewed hundreds of personal loan apps and removed immediately removed those which were found to violate the user safety policies. However, Google did not disclose the names of the apps removed.

 

"The apps that were found to violate our user safety policies were immediately removed from the Store, and we have asked the developers of the remaining identified apps to demonstrate that they comply with applicable local laws and regulations. Apps that fail to do so will be removed without further notice. In addition, we will continue to assist the law enforcement agencies in their investigation of this issue," Google India said in its blog post.

 

The tech giant has also said that it will continue to assist law enforcement agencies in investigations regarding unauthorised apps lending to unsuspecting customers and using high-handed recovery methods.

 

It added "Providing a safe and secure experience across Google's products is our top priority. Our global product policies are designed and implemented with this goal in mind, and we're always working to improve our practices to enhance user safety."

 

Google also clarified that their developer policy requires financial services apps that offer personal loans to disclose key information such as the minimum and maximum periods of repayment, the maximum Annual Percentage Rate, and a representative example of the total loan cost.

 

"To help further ensure that users are making sound choices, we only allow personal loan apps with full repayment required in greater than or equal to 60 days from the date the loan is issued," said Google.

 

Google has also reiterated that app developers must seek only those permissions which are necessary to provide services, to protect user privacy. It said, "To protect user privacy, developers must only request permissions that are necessary to implement current features or services. They should not use permissions that give access to the user or device data for undisclosed, unimplemented, or disallowed features or purposes".

 

Google emphasised, developers must also only use data for purposes that the user has consented to, and if they later want to use the data for other purposes, they must obtain user permission for the additional uses.

 

"Developers must also only use data for purposes that the user has consented to, and if they later want to use the data for other purposes, they must obtain user permission for the additional uses," added Google.

 

This has come amid rising concerns about unauthorised digital lending apps. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had issued a warning in December to people not to fall prey to Digital Lending Scam in the process of getting instant loans. It stressed that people should avoid such platforms that claim to provide loans with paperwork.

 

This warning for RBI had come after several complaints were lodged on shady instant loan apps that threatened and abused the customers while demanding the repayment of the borrowed amount.