Google restricts loan shark apps from preying on you or your contacts
Google will be restricting access of quick loan peddling apps to your data like photos, videos, or contacts, in light of the predatory behavior of some bad players in the industry which initially made it yank thousands of such apps from the Play Store. The changes in its Personal Loans policy will go into effect on May 31, says Google in the policy preview update unearthed by TechCrunch:
Policy preview (effective May 31, 2023)
This article previews changes included in our April 2023 policy updates.
We’re updating our Personal Loans policy to state that apps aiming to provide or facilitate personal loans may not access user contacts or photos.
We’re introducing additional requirements for personal loan apps targeting users in Pakistan. Personal loan apps in Pakistan must submit country-specific licensing documentation to prove their ability to provide or facilitate personal loans.
This article previews changes included in our April 2023 policy updates.
We’re updating our Personal Loans policy to state that apps aiming to provide or facilitate personal loans may not access user contacts or photos.
We’re introducing additional requirements for personal loan apps targeting users in Pakistan. Personal loan apps in Pakistan must submit country-specific licensing documentation to prove their ability to provide or facilitate personal loans.
As you can see, not only will Personal Loan apps lose access to profile and other photos or media, but they also won't be able to swipe your contact list and inundate them with offers.
Such apps have long been a nuisance with their hawking methods worthy of a loan-sharking business, so Google has decided to shake things up and restrict the damage they can do without banning legitimate businesses altogether.
It apparently is also ready to introduce localized restrictions based on a country's legislation regarding personal loans businesses, including reviewing their documents if there is a licensing system involved.
Quick loan apps have proliferated in recent years and have made it inherently easier to take one with a few taps without the paperwork and restrictions of banking institutions involved. For many users in developing markets their Android phone is the only computing device they have and they have increasingly been the target of predatory lending practices via apps present in the Play Store.
This practice has snowballed the amount of loans with extremely high interest that has been taken via an app on their phones, resulting in the usual array of unruly behavior by the loan originators. People in many countries have had their contacts poached and harassed for their outstanding loan, their photos altered for the purposes of intimidation and some of them have tragically committed suicide because of unsavory quick loan app lender practices. Google has been accused of not doing enough to nip this trend in the bud, and it is now taking measures to reign in bad lender behavior.
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Things that are NOT allowed: