Google, attributing utmost seriousness to the matters of accessing sensitive data and permissions, has decided to remove those apps from Google Play Store that ask for SMS and Call Log permissions.
Last October, Google announced its plans to restrict developer access to SMS and Call Log permissions. Paul Bankhead, Director of Product Management, Google Play, posted on January 14 about this policy change, adding that their new policy “is designed to ensure that apps asking for these permissions need full and ongoing access to the sensitive data in order to accomplish the app’s primary use case and that users will understand why this data would be required for the app to function.”
To prevent data leaks, Google aims to limit the SMS and Call Log permissions on Android to messaging and dialing apps, which would allow users to continue using third-party clients without much of the risk factor. It added that only default clients on Android would be able to request SMS or Call Log permissions.
Google Play Store apps violating the new policy change would be removed: “Over the next few weeks, we will be removing apps from the Play Store that ask for SMS or Call Log permission and have not submitted a permission declaration form.”
