Source-This post on Problems with App and App based businesses has been created based on the article “People are losing control over phones” published in “The Hindu” on 1 April 2024.
UPSC Syllabus-GS Paper 3 – Basics of Cyber Security
Context- There is an increase in the number of Anti-trust cases across the globe against organizations such as Google for abusing their dominant position. Google has lost its Play Store case against the Competition Commission of India, which ruled that Google is abusing its dominant position and fined it ₹1,337 crore.
The article highlights that the apps are not the right way to access Internet services.
How has the evolution of the internet been?
1) Easy access– In the beginning, the Internet was designed in such a way that anyone could connect to the Internet and start providing or consuming a service. In the entire design of the network layer, there were no gatekeepers except for very basic functionality such as allocation of Internet Protocol addresses and root servers for resolving top-level domains like .com, .org, and .net.
2) Expansion of services-Due to easy access, the Internet grew rapidly in the 1990s and 2000s. There was the introduction of many services such as emails, websites which enabled the sharing of information and gave rise to e-commerce.
3) User friendly– A web browser was needed to access the website. This was made simpler by standardization of protocols and languages. In the beginning, Yahoo provided a directory of websites under various categories. However, with the increase in the number of websites, Google came up to quickly provide a list of web pages that matched users search queries.
Read more– Issue of delisting of India Companies from Googles play store
How has the introduction of mobile phones facilitated the development of App business?
After the introduction of mobile phones, everyone wanted to port their websites so that these sites could be easily viewed on small hand-held devices.
Moblile manufacturing companies like apple urged third-party developers to build web applications (apps) that could run on its Safari browsers.
What are the problems with Apps?
1) Security challenge– Apps can exploit local privilege escalation vulnerabilities and get control over the devices because they have direct access to machines. App stores may contain apps with malware, commit financial frauds, or even steal private information. Therefore, running untrusted software natively is a big security challenge.
2) Mandatory sharing of personal details-Businesses promises immersive experience and push their users to install their apps rather than providing their services through the standardized browser. However, to get such an experience, users needed to give control over their SMSs, photos, videos, and location. The users cannot block advertisements.
3) Conflict between App stores and businesses-App stores are imposing an app tax in the range of 15 to 30%. This is strongly resisted by businesses as they do not want to share revenue with the app store. Despite being fined by Competition Commission of India; Google has brought back rehashed version of the app tax calling it User Choice Billing and started removing apps of certain businesses from the Play Store.
The immersive experience of apps is neither beneficial for users nor for businesses. In the end, it will be beneficial only for Apple and Google who control the app stores.
Question for practice
How has the introduction of mobile phones facilitated the development of App business? How do apps pose a threat to users’ privacy?
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