Google claims it banned over 173,000 developer accounts & 1.43m apps from Play Store to combat malicious fraud rings during just a single year.
The US software company explained that its machine learning-assisted app review process prevented 1.43m policy-violating apps from being published on the Play Store, the primary app market for Android devices, in 2022.
“We also continued to combat malicious developers & fraud rings, banning 173,000 bad accounts & preventing over $2b in fraudulent & abusive transactions,” Google commented in a blog reviewing 2022 results.
Sensitive Permissions
The company also observed that it prevented half a million apps from unnecessarily accessing sensitive permissions in the past 3 years. Many Android apps have been asking for dangerous permissions in the past.
Google revealed that the company added additional requirements for developers who want to publish their work on the Play Store. To upload software, developers need to verify their identity using their phone & email.
The company believes these measures reduced the number of apps that breach Google’s policies.
Developer Community
“As the Android ecosystem expands, it’s critical for us to work closely with the developer community to ensure they have the tools, knowledge, & support to build secure & trustworthy apps that respect user data security & privacy,” Google said.
The company stated that it also launched the Google Play SDK (software development kit) Index that helps developers to evaluate whether an SDK is safe & dependable to use in developing an app.
