Google Inc has removed an experimental privacy feature from its Android mobile software that had allowed users to block apps from collecting personal information such as address book data and a user’s location.
The change means that owners of smartphones using Android 4.4.2,the latest version of the world’s most popular operating system for mobile devices released this week,must provide access to their personal data in order to use certain apps.
The privacy feature allowed users to pick and choose which personal data a third-party app can collect,Eckersley said. Users had to install a special Apps Ops Launcher software,which was created by another company,in order to access the hidden privacy controls.
Privacy has become an increasingly important issue as smartphones,which are loaded with consumers’ personal information,become the primary computing device for many consumers.
