Security News > 2022 > September > Differences in App Security/Privacy Based on Country
The apps we downloaded from Google Play also showed differences based on country in their security and privacy capabilities.
One hundred and three apps have differences based on country in their privacy policies.
Geodifferences in the mobile app ecosystem have received limited attention, even though apps are central to how mobile users communicate and consume Internet content.
In all, we collected 117,233 apk files and 112,607 privacy policies for those apps.
While our data corroborates anecdotal evidence of takedowns due to government requests, unlike common perception, we find that blocking by developers is significantly higher than takedowns in all our countries, and has the most influence on geoblocking in the mobile app ecosystem.
We also find instances of developers releasing different app versions to different countries, some with weaker security settings or privacy disclosures that expose users to higher security and privacy risks.