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Google is reported to maintain tabs on how to develop competitors with rival Android apps
According to a new report in The Information, an internal program in Google known as "Android Lockbox" can provide the company's staff with information on how android users interact with popular non-Google apps and services. The Google Mobile Services program allows employees to view "sensitive" data on other apps, including how often they are opened and for how many years they are used.
Sources state that this information was used either for keeping tabs on Google's Gmail service competitors or to monitor the use of Facebook and Instagram. Google has also been believed to have used it to plan its competition, Shorts, in TikTok.
The Information indicates that in some cases Google employees must ask for permission to view the data and sometimes these requests are denied.
Google's company faces intensive antitrust checks in the United States. Google CEO Sundar Pichai has been called to testify in the Congress; almost every US state is in the presence of an anti-trust investigation and the Department of Justice is supposed to file its own antimonopoly case. Although these investigations are believed to focus on business search and advertising companies, it is unlikely that discoveries on possible unfair practices of Android will be welcome.
The information says that Android Lockbox gets its most useful information when users agree with Google in the Android setup process for sharing information.
The information tells users that this information makes Google more personalized, but also provides data for competitive research.
Google acknowledged in response to The information report that it has access to use data from rival applications, but said the program is public and that other developers may also have access to similar data. But Google's reach is thought to be much broader because it covers any device using preinstalled apps by Google, whilst other developers can only see information from phones with apps.
Google said the data doesn't provide information on how people do things while using individual apps, but it doesn't tell you if it is used to develop competing apps.
The collected data is anonymous and can not be identified personally, according to the information. Google says that the collection of data is communicated to users and controlled.
'Since 2014, the Android App Use Data API has been used to analyze and improve services for Google and Android developers licensed to use basic app information by Android OEMs or users, for example how often applications are opened,' a spokesman for the company told The Verge in an email.
The speaker states that the information for use in apps is 'received via this API only' and may be used to allot battery power for common apps, the digital wellness functionality of Google and improve application discovery in its play store. "The API receives no information about in-app activities and the users disclose and control our collection of these data" the spokesman said.
Google is not the only company accused of attempting to collect data on competing services from phones. In 2017, the Wall Street Journal reportement stated that Facebook has been using its own VPN service, Onavo, to monitor rival services and plan its purchases, for example WhatsApp.
