Google has urged Android users to uninstall a Chinese e-commerce app, Pinduoduo due to ‘security concerns’.
Newsone reports that Google claimed in a statement on Tuesday that it discovered malware in some versions of the application which have not been downloaded from the Play store.
This online news platform understands that Google added that it suspended the Chinese shopping app on the Google Play store due to “security concerns” that it is investigating.
This comes after concerns have arisen recently over another Chinese-owned app, TikTok, which has led to some politicians calling it a national security threat.
Newsone Nigeria reports that some have even alleged that the app could be used to spy on users while the British government has outright banned it on any government devices this week.
Pinduoduo is a popular e-commerce app in China that is known for providing discounts if users team up to buy multiples of an item.
Google in a statement said, “Google Play Protect enforcement has been set to block installation attempts of these identified malicious apps. Users that have malicious versions of the app downloaded to their devices are warned and prompted to uninstall the app.”
Although the app has been suspended from Google Play Store, it is still available for Apple users and can still be downloaded from the iOS store on Tuesday.
In response to this, Pinduoduo in a statement said Google had not shared more details with the company beyond informing it that the current version of its app was “not compliant with Google’s policy”.
Pinduoduo said, “We strongly reject the speculation and accusation that Pinduoduo app is malicious just from a generic and non-conclusive response from Google.”
