On 8 January 2020, Privacy International and more than 50 other organizations, including Homo Digitalis, sent an open letter to the Alphabet Inc. CEO, Mr. Sundar Pichai.

With this letter, the co-signing organizations, ask Google to take immediate measures to prohibit the use of pre-installed applications on Android smartphones, which constitute a threat to privacy of the users.

These applications are currently permitted to operate outside the Android security protocols. It is notable that 91% of the said apps are not available in Google Play.

These pre-installed apps are usually found in cheap Android smartphones and permit the use of the camera or the microphone, or even access to the device location.

However, privacy and personal data protection are not luxuries, but human rights!

You may read the full letter here and also participate in this campaign here.