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        <title><![CDATA[Google fixes policy that appeared to let apps track cheating spouses]]></title>
        <atom:link href="https://usagag.com/2020/09/18/google-fixes-policy-that-appeared-to-let-apps-track-cheating-spouses/" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" />
        <link>https://usagag.com/2020/09/18/google-fixes-policy-that-appeared-to-let-apps-track-cheating-spouses/</link>
        <lastBuildDate>Fri, 18 Sep 2020 12:19:17 +0000</lastBuildDate>
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            <media:title type="html">Google fixes policy that appeared to let apps track cheating spouses</media:title>
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        <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Google has amended a confusing policy that appeared to permit smartphone apps that let people keep tabs on their cheating spouses.</p><p>The tech giant issued an update Wednesday to its Google Play store policy governing &#8220;stalkerware&#8221; apps, which track the user&#8217;s location and other personal information without their knowledge.</p><p>These apps — sometimes marketed as tools to help catch cheating spouses — are made to trick users into believing that they&#8217;re not being tracked, according to the <strong>Electronic Frontier Foundation</strong>, a digital civil liberties group.</p><p>They pose a threat because they can facilitate &#8220;gender-based and domestic violence, harassment and sexual abuse,&#8221; says the <strong>Coalition Against Stalkerware</strong>, a campaign against the technology that was set up last year.</p><p>A previous version of Google&#8217;s stalkerware policy that took effect in August said apps &#8220;can be used to track a person (a spouse, for example) without their knowledge or permission&#8221; — but also required them to display a notification and an icon that identified the app.</p><p>It also said parents could not use them to track their children even though another clause explicitly allowed apps created for &#8220;parental (including family) monitoring.&#8221;</p><p>The new policy, which takes effect Oct. 1, more clearly allows kid-tracking apps but bans those that a jealous lover might use to surreptitiously track their partner&#8217;s movements.</p><p>&#8220;Acceptable forms of these apps can be used by parents to track their children,&#8221; the revised language reads. &#8220;However, these apps cannot be used to track a person (a spouse, for example) without their knowledge or permission unless a persistent notification is displayed while the data is being transmitted.&#8221;</p><p>The new policy still requires apps to show a notification and an icon even when they&#8217;re being used to track children, <strong>according to The Verge</strong>, which earlier reported on Google&#8217;s change.</p><p>Google did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday morning.</p>]]></content:encoded>
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