With a change to the privacy policy, Niantic makes it clear that they want to view your apps. This could serve the anti-spoofing effort in Pokémon GO.
The developers of Pokémon GO have long been trying to do something about GPS fakers/spoofers. Spoofers use third-party software (often apps) to trick Pokémon GO into thinking they are in a different location. This allows users to more easily find special Pokémon or raids.
With a change to the privacy policy, Niantic apparently takes a step further and makes it clear that they want to control your smartphone.
Pokémon GO is interested in other apps on your phone
A screenshot of the privacy policy of Pokémon GO is drawing a lot of attention on Reddit. The developers have now updated the privacy policy and added an interesting new addition.
This change indicates that Pokémon GO “collects information about other apps installed on your device (or your authorized child’s) … .” In short: Niantic wants to know what’s going on on your phone.
If you now connect this news with the blacklist news from the last few weeks, you can see a pattern.
- In Update 0.79.2, the blacklist was first recognized. During data mining of the update, the feature was discovered and referred to as a possible cheat protection. It is assumed that this blacklist puts known GPS fake apps on a blacklist. If an app like this is active on your device, Pokémon GO will not run.
- Shortly after the update, Niantic apparently tested the blacklist function. For a few minutes, cheaters were locked out of Pokémon GO and could not play. The protection here, however, did not last long. It is likely that Niantic was only testing the impact on the game and the community.
- In the new update 0.81.1, Niantic has again tinkered with the blacklist feature. This could mean that the blacklist will soon be activated again.
If apps on your smartphone are on this blacklist, the Pokémon GO service could be interrupted as a result.
However, the update of the privacy policy has received a lot of negative feedback for Niantic. Many players find it unusual that by agreeing to Niantic’s policy, they allow a mobile game to scrutinize our smartphones. They hope that Niantic will soon clarify this update.
We are curious if Niantic will say a few words about this and perhaps explain the blacklist function in more detail. We are interested in what kind of services are targeted by this blacklist. Are they just GPS fake apps, or more?
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