Android Market ‘Kill Switch’ a Great Idea if Used Properly

[vbreal]

Android Market ‘Kill Switch’ a Great Idea if Used Properly

Posted by James on Friday, October 17th, 2008 at 7:13 am under Android
We all know the problems and concerns people had with Apple’s developer NDA. Some developers were stunned and shocked to see their own apps either denied for inclusion or banned from the store following inclusion. It seemed Apple had them by the short and curlies, and they did… But at least they’ve opened things up a bit since the early days. The NDA was dropped, and developers can now share and discuss code, and work together to develop some killer apps.
To that end, I think all of us were pleased when Android came around. It was to be a truly ‘Open’ OS, and the applications developed would be cool and plentiful. Well, as Simon reported earlier it looks like Google has (smartly) enabled a ‘kill switch’ for their own app store, which in my opinion is a great idea… The only concern I have is I hope they use it smartly. Certainly a kill switch’s ultimate goal is to protect not only Google, but the valued users of their OS from inappropriate apps making their way onto devices.
Certainly it’s always ‘better safe than sorry’, and having this safeguard in place is a must-have in my opinion.

[Drengrish]

I completely agree with you on this note. If Google is properly able to use the application "Kill Switch" they have implemented, it will do nothing but secure the android community and the future of their investment. I know all of us are extremely excited about the G1 and this operating system's release, but as we know, there are people out their who focus countless hours of time to make hell of things people enjoy. It's to be expected that at some point of time malware may attempt to slither its way into the android marketplace. With this in mind, I am comfortable with the presence of a "Kill Switch" on the phone, especially if it means the security and future of MY investment.

[hawtseks]

This article has the android developer liscence agreement which has to be violated in order for them to use the killswitch.

http://www.tgdaily.com/content/view/39761/140/

Here's the important stuff:

Located in the “About” section of the Android software on T-Mobile’s G1 phone, she found the following section:

"Google may discover a product that violates the developer distribution agreement ... in such an instance, Google retains the right to remotely remove those applications from your device at its sole discretion."

Google is concerned about the privacy of data and may consider illegitimate or irresponsible treatment of application user data a breach of contract:

“You agree that if you use the SDK to develop applications for general public users, you will protect the privacy and legal rights of those users. If the users provide you with user names, passwords, or other login information or personal information, your must make the users aware that the information will be available to your application, and you must provide legally adequate privacy notice and protection for those users. If your application stores personal or sensitive information provided by users, it must do so securely. If the user provides your application with Google Account information, your application may only use that information to access the user's Google Account when, and for the limited purposes for which, the user has given you permission to do so."


MORE:
http://code.google.com/android/terms.html

[senor360]

I completely agree. The need to insure their customers phone safety/privacy against maliciously written code is very important. Good move on their part!

[g1phone]

there is a couple of nice videos from phandroid.com, they go through all the terms and conditions of the Android Market, nice if you are lazy and want someone else to read the small print for you:

http://phandroid.com/2008/10/17/andr...ms-of-service/

[EclipsedExistence]

Now, does this apply to all apps, or just those released on the market?