Google Play Store removes 14 apps at NADRA request

Google Play Store removes 14 apps at Nadra request

To guarantee that their apps are safe, secure, and compliant with Google's regulations, developers must abide by the policies of Google Play Store, which is Google's official app store for Android devices. Google may remove an app from the Play Store if it is discovered to be in breach of these rules or if harmful or unlawful behavior is detected about it.

The National Database and Registration Authority, or NADRA, is a department of the Pakistani government that is in charge of administering the nation's national identification cards and other citizen registration services. If particular applications were determined to be against local laws or regulations or to constitute a security risk to users in Pakistan, NADRA may have asked for their removal from the Play Store.

Such demands are taken seriously by Google, and the company looks into them before acting. To resolve security or legal issues linked to apps accessible on the Play Store, Google may occasionally collaborate with regional authorities or other organizations.

The National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra), which formally brought up the issue with the Alphabet-owned US Tech Corporation over the breach of personal data of Pakistani residents, requested that Google delete 14 applications from its app store. Google complied.

According to documents obtained by Dawn, Nadra has discussed the matter with Scott Beaumont, Google's president for Asia Pacific, Hiang Choong, the region's top lawyer, and Stephanie Davis, vice president for customer solutions.

Nadra referred to this issue as "important and urgent" in a letter she sent to Google about the "Breach of Personal Data of Residents and their Privacy by Application Providers on Google Play Store" and claimed that it "involves the personal data of residents of Pakistan, which is a susceptible issue. Which is being unjustly sold, shared, and/or distributed by several applications (apps) housed on your platform and accessible through the Google Play Store."

As a result, the apps "obtain unwarranted credibility for their apps and services," according to the statement. It claimed that the apps were "illegally and deceptively" using Nadra's name and products to impersonate and fool users into thinking they were somehow affiliated, authorized, or run by Nadra.

Nadra notified Google that "certain apps are impersonating Nadra or implying they are authorized to provide Nadra products and services to their users" and obtained personal information from the Pakistani residents, noting that Google's policy on impersonation did not permit users to impersonate someone else.

It is obvious that people's personal information is being shared and/or sold unlawfully through these applications, endangering their privacy and taking lead "belonging to the federal government of Pakistan," Nadra wrote in the letter.

The authority asked Google to "immediately remove all such apps from the Google Play Store and to curb such illegal activities of sharing and selling Nadra's proprietary, sensitive information, which could have serious security implications for Pakistan, as well as breaching the privacy of residents, publishing, promoting of such apps using Nadra's name or log should not be allowed in the future."

Google has withdrawn at least 14 applications from its app store in response to Nadra's request. Tariq Malik, the chairman of Nadra, stated that in addition to writing to Google, Nadra has implemented an artificial intelligence system to safeguard residents' personal information.

After becoming office in 2021, he allegedly renounced "super access" to residents' private information and made it inaccessible to even Nadra's staff.

Also, the database authority has reactivated its information security division, which had been dysfunctional following his departure from the organization in 2014, according to Mr. Malik.