Google owns up to a remote "kill switch" in Android

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I guess we all assumed that they had some way of killing apps, but Google comes out and confirms that they do.


http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&taxonomyName=Software&articleId=9117279&taxonomyId=18&pageNumber=1

It should be noted that it took a nosy developer to out the iPhone's kill switch.
 
Agreed, kudos to Google for being honest about it, I for one thing it is a good idea, it gives them the ability to remove harmful software if someone decides to slip an exploit into their app.

I also highly doubt Google will abuse the killswitch either, I wouldn't be surprised if Apple abused it just to kill off tethering apps, I don't think El Goog would be that harsh
 
I absolutely think it is necessary for the ability to be there. What if? Right? Now if something goes wrong with an app. they allow on the market, you can fall back on blaming goo for it and have them fix it, lol... Not relaly... But still I'm not worried, and wouldn't be unless I was out there trying to develop malware so..
 
We all assume that Apple will do "X" and google will do "Y", but the reality is the kill switch allows google / apple to remove an app, any app. Whether it is due to malicious intent of the developer/app, abuse of the user, or any reason.

http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9117279


From the above quote, it sound more for the protection of the user. Hopefully they wont remove tethering apps or streaming a/v app, just because it is sucking a lot of bw.

A good question is also: Does the kill switch only effect applications create & available through Android Market or will they be able to kill a home grown app installed outside of AM?
 
Would kill switches only work for G1's with tmobile? How about all those jailbroken/unlocked iphones, hasn't/couldn't apple theoretically "killswitch" those phones that have violated the agreement?
 
Think about it. Google knows what apps were downloaded from the market, it needs to know that for billing purposes. Since it know who downloaded what (from the market), it is a trivial task to write a program to scan the database at google, send the delete command over the air to the specific phone and zap the bad app. Unless Google also scans your phone for installed apps on a regular basis, which is possible but not practical for privacy reasons, they have n way of knowing what other apps you have installed, be it downloaded from another third party market, or directly from your PC Either way, unlike some other companies I could mention, Google does not have a reputation for being draconian.

Killing apps that violate the market terms of service I can see. developers agree not to distribute apps that are harmful to the user's phone, and I for one would be tickled to turn on my phone, see a notification that a malicious app had been removed. (as long as it was for that reason)
 
As long as he stays away from my fresh fish dinner. Halibut today, sole tomorrow.




I don't like kill switches, no and no. but for now I feel more confident that google won't dump apps for any reason other than confirmed malicious apps. no sneaky lawyer speak or BS. We already know that other companies will take a different stance.

But remote kill means that someone, perhaps other than google might, you know, remote kill. So on that, no and no.
 
I, for one, am not the least bit surprised at any of this. As we elect to become permanently connected to something everywhere we go it is inevitable that we see more of this.

I'm less worried about Apple and Google's ability to remove apps than for so-called "Agencies" to track our whereabouts in realtime and forensically.
 
I believe it's only through the market. The market tracks stats related to any app that is installed through the market (% of downloads, amount of users which have it installed, etc). Someone should wireshark it, but I'm pretty sure it won't know if you locally installed an app.
 
guys google, no. t-mobile, has already taken apps off the market. the wireless tether app i use was taken off and i asked an operator about it and she said that they did in fact remove tethering apps from the market to protect the speed of he network ( because it was built for phones not computers)

so t-mobile does

sorry i started typing and then realized it was t-mobile not google. anyone care about phone companies with kill switches?
 
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