App News Roundup 22 November 2019

We’ve been scouring industry news again this week to bring you the latest developments in apps to help you keep your finger on the pulse. Read on for some of the key events from the last few days…

Top Global Messaging App WhatsApp Has Urged Users to Ensure They Update

The world’s largest standalone messenger app in terms of user figures has this week urged all users to ensure their app is up to date after making bug fixes to prevent a major security flaw.

The messenger giant now owned by Facebook has had to make coding changes after a major security risk was revealed that could be causing users to have all their data hacked via the app. The process for the hack involves a user being sent a file to download often in the form of an MP4 file which then allowed the sender to gain access to the recipient’s data and conversations.

It is suspected that ‘spy agencies’ have been using the hack to keep tabs on users and could be potentially targeting VIPs and celebrities in particular.

While the security bug has now been fixed, it is only applicable if you have the latest version of the app downloaded. Those who have not updated will still be vulnerable to the security hack. India’s Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) posted an advisory outlining the “high” severity of the threat, warning that it “could be exploited by a remote attacker” at any time.

Google Removes Anti-India App from Android Store

Off the back of a series of apps being removed from the Google Play Android app store there has been another major app removal in the form of an Anti-India app.

Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh has been strongly campaigning through legal channels and communications with Google directly to have the app ‘2020 Sikh Referendum’ removed. The app in a nutshell had been created and filled with content persuading users to vote in the 2020 referendum alongside website www.yes2khalistan.org which had been launched in the same vein.

"How and why Google allowed such an app to be uploaded by a known radical extremist group in the first place is questionable," the Chief Minister was cited as saying by an IANS report. He said that the timing of the launch of app indicates a patently sinister agenda by the ISI to leverage the opportunity created by the Kartarpur Corridor to divide the Indian Sikh community.

While this may be a far more extreme scenario than those in the US, it seems that apps and social media platforms are coming under increasing scrutiny with regard to managing and policing their ads and availability of content relating to political matters. Facebook, Twitter and Snapchat have all in recent weeks made or produced stances or statements with regards to fact checking political advertisements targeting the US audience, particularly young and first time voters.