Google Takes Action Against Loan Apps’ Harassment of Borrowers
To counteract predatory behavior by some lenders who harass borrowers, Google intends to limit the access of loan-providing apps to sensitive user data such as contacts, photos, and videos.
In this context, Google is set to restrict the access of loan apps to user data, aiming to prevent such apps from exploiting users.
As of May end, personal loan apps on Google Play will be restricted from accessing call logs, precise location, external storage, photos and videos, and contacts.
As per reports by TechCrunch, there have been instances where debt collectors have exploited borrowers using their contacts.
Google’s policy update states that apps that offer financial products and services must conform to local regulations and disclose the necessary details according to local law.
READ MORE: Texas Threatens to Dim the Lights on Bitcoin Miners
The Play Store removed several loan apps in Kenya, while in India, over 2000 apps were taken down after warnings from central banks and law enforcement.
“Developers who attempt to publish more than one DLA per NBFC risk the termination of their developer account and any other associated accounts,” Google said.
Alexander Stefanov
Reporter at CoinsPress
Alex is Editor-in-Chief of Coinspress and co-founder of Millennial Media Group, with nearly a decade of experience covering financial markets - crypto first, then everything else. It started in 2016 with Bitcoin. Like most people at the time, he didn't fully understand it - so he kept digging. Blockchain, tokenomics, the projects, the cycles. That curiosity never stopped, and eventually pulled him into traditional markets too: equities, commodities, macro. Not because he left crypto behind, but because you can't properly understand one without the other. What drives him is straightforward: he wants to know why something is happening, not just that it's happening. Most market coverage stops at the headline - price up, price down, here's a chart. Alex finds that kind of reporting actively unhelpful. If you walk away from an article without understanding the mechanism behind the move, what did you actually learn? He holds a degree in Tourism from New Bulgarian University - not the most obvious path into financial markets, but markets have a way of pulling in people who are simply too curious to stay out. He has authored over 200 in-depth analyses and more than 10,000 articles across crypto and traditional finance. He still thinks every day in markets teaches him something new. That's probably why he hasn't stopped.
