In an update to its Android Developer Program Policy, Google on Wednesday said stalkerware apps in its app store can no longer be used to stalk non-consenting adults.

Stalkerware, which the web giant defines as “code that transmits personal information off the device without adequate notice or consent and doesn’t display a persistent notification that this is happening,” may still be used for keeping track of one’s kids.

But starting October 1, 2020, the ad biz says it’s no longer acceptable for Android apps in the Google Play Store to track another person, such as a spouse, without permission, unless there’s a persistent visible notification that data is being transmitted.

The ban follows a similar prohibition in August on Google-served ads for “spyware and technology used for intimate partner surveillance,” which reportedly hasn’t worked very well.

In recent years, computer security experts have argued that the privacy and security risks in intimate relationships remain haven’t been adequately anticipated or addressed.

But rules against invasive behavior aren’t necessarily effective. Via Twitter, Michael Veale, a lecturer at University College London, observed that a 2018 research paper “found that ‘abusers frequently exploit dual-use applications—tools whose main purpose is legitimate but that can be easily repurposed to function as spyware,’ so banning explicit stalkerware of questionable efficacy.”

Google will continue to allow non-stalkerware apps (i.e. policy compliant apps) to monitor and track people, provided the programs are not marketed as surveillance apps, they disclose any such functions, and they present the requisite persistent notification and icon.

Monitoring apps of the permissible sort continue to be subject to removal for violating applicable laws in the locations where they’re published, and may not link to resources (e.g. servers, SDKs) that provide policy violating functions or non-compliant APKs hosted outside the Google Play Store.

Google’s developer policy update also includes a ban on misrepresentation, both for apps and developer accounts. Apps or accounts that impersonate a person or organization, or attempt to conceal the app’s purpose or ownership, or engage in coordinated misleading activity, are no longer allowed.

Source: Google bans stalkerware apps from Android store. Which is cool but… why were they allowed in the first place? • The Register

To answer the question: The tech giants will do almost anything to get  your location information because it allows them to know and control you better.

The Weather Channel app settles suit over selling location data of 49m people without consent

Private Intel Firm Buys Location Data to Track People to their ‘Doorstep’ sourced from innocuous seeming apps

How Location Tracking Actually Works on Your Smartphone (and how to manipulate it – kind of)

Google collects Android location data even if you turn it off and don’t have a SIM card inserted

US carmakers collect and keep driven locations

And some more links

IBM and the Los Angeles city attorney’s office have settled a privacy lawsuit brought after The Weather Channel app was found to be selling user location data without proper disclosure. The lawsuit was filed last year, at which point the app had 45 million active users.

IBM has changed the way that users are informed, and also agreed to donate $1M worth of technology to assist LA County with its coronavirus contact tracing efforts …

 

Associated Press reports.

The operator of The Weather Channel mobile app has agreed to change how it informs users about its location-tracking practices and sale of personal data as part of a settlement with the Los Angeles city attorney’s office, officials said Wednesday.

City Attorney Mike Feuer alleged in a 2019 lawsuit that app users were misled when they agreed to share their location information in exchange for personalized forecasts and alerts. Instead, the lawsuit claimed users were unaware they had surrendered personal privacy when the company sold their data to third parties.

Feuer announced the settlement Wednesday with the app’s operator, TWC Product and Technology LLC, and owner IBM Corp. The app’s disclosure screens were initially revised after the lawsuit was filed and future changes that will be monitored by the city attorney’s office are planned.

Source: The Weather Channel app settles suit over selling location data – 9to5Mac