Google has termedSlice as a harmful app, recommending users to uninstall it.- The app reportedly tried to spy on users’
personal data such as messages, photos, audio records and call history. - Slice has claimed that the company has fixed the issue.
Fintech company Slice which has touted itself as a credit card alternative has come under the scanner after Google has alerted users that the app is trying to spy on users’ personal data.
Google Play Protect routinely scans applications installed on the device to identify malicious apps that are trying to steal user data. Play Protect today sent a notification that said, “slice puts your device at risk”.
Slice tries to spy on personal data
Clicking on the notification takes the user to the Play Protect page which reveals that Slice is a harmful app that is trying to spy on personal data, such as messages, photos, audio recordings or call history. It further recommended users to uninstall the app.
Slice claims it has fixed the issue
Slice has issued a clarification on Twitter, claiming that the issue has been fixed. “Yesterday evening—our Android update led to a risk message from Play Store. We investigated it and fixed the issue in 4 hours.”
“1% of app users are still on the previous version. If you're seeing this issue, we would request you to update your app to the latest version asap,” Slice added.
At the moment, it is not clear what triggered the alert and whether Slice was trying to spy on users with its earlier update. The company in its tweet has not clarified why an alert was triggered by Google. So far, Google has not revealed why an alert was triggered.
Slices issues a clarification
"Last evening, Slice's Android app update led to a risk message from Google Play Protect to the users of the app. We have investigated this issue and it was resolved within 4 hours. While we continue to investigate the issue thoroughly along with Google Play that is particularly associated with the version 10.07.1 – which seems to be a technical glitch. There has been no material change in the system. We urge our users who are facing this issue to reinstall their app and use the version 10.0.7.3 immediately,” Slice said in a statement to Business Insider India.
This has come at a time when Slice is already in hot waters with the country’s central bank. The Reserve Bank of India recently barred non-banking prepaid payment instruments (PPIs) such as wallets and prepaid cards from loading credit lines on their platforms.
The central bank has said that non-banking institutions cannot load credit lines onto them. Slice and Unicards are among the companies that will be impacted by this.
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