Android 4.4 Kitkat brought some amazing privacy features since the release of Android, but Android 4.2.2 took away the feature. The app allowed users to restrict what data apps could access – blocking flashlight apps from accessing your call history, GPS data or address book. According to Google, the feature was deployed by mistake; it wasn’t ready for consumers yet.
The Electronic Fund Foundation (EFF), praised Google for the privacy features, and even went through the effort of writing a blog post about how amazing this was. The company then reliazed that Google had removed the feature.
“A moment ago, it looked as though Google cared about this massive privacy problem. Now we have our doubts,” said EFF technology projects director Peter Eckersley, in a blog post.
This was a huge move for Google and privacy in general. The app would have prevent apps like flashlights apps from accessing and then selling your data to advertisers. Google cited errors generated when the app attempted to block access GPS, Call history, or other data. Hopefully, a complete and public version of App Ops will be available soon. We will keep you updated on when the app is pushed backed out for everyone to use.