Beijing cracks down on undeletable pre-installed bloatware and dodgy apps
This week the kings of the Middle Kingdom issued directives to address some of the biggest annoyances associated with smartphones applications: copycat apps and bloatware.
On Monday the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) launched a campaign it said would «rectify chaos» in smartphone apps by cracking down on several behaviors such as publication of «copycat apps» that use logos, pictures or text similar to existing apps to deceive users and potentially collect personal data and app subscription fees.
The CAC also also plans to rectify dodgy ranking practices, and apps that lure people in with sexually suggestive or vulgar home pages. Apps distributed by QR code, rather than through app stores, are also in trouble.
But wait, there’s more! CAC will prevent auto downloads or installations without user consent.
