KEY POINTS

  • The year 2020 was marred by many issues, foremost of which was the coronavirus
  • It also saw a number of app controversies
  • These include several popular apps from China, such as WeChat and TikTok, being banned in India

The year 2020 has brought major changes to lives around the world. Amid the spread of COVID-19, Big Tech companies faced tons of scrutiny over certain practices, Apple released its first 5G iPhones and its first pair of headphones, Samsung was rumored to be planning on stopping the Galaxy Note series and so on.

The same applies to apps and games. Some popular games got banned, were removed or became involved in some interesting issues this year.

Here’s a quick look at some app controversies that marred 2020:

Chinese apps were banned from India

Several popular apps from China were banned in India earlier this year as a result of major issues between the two nations. These apps – more than a hundred – included messaging app WeChat, video-sharing platform TikTok, file organizer app ES File Explorer and a lot more, Android Authority reported.

Popular apps were scrutinized for use of consumer data

Just this month, the Federal Trade Commission issued an order requiring nine social media and video streaming companies to provide data on “how they collect, use, and present personal information, their advertising and user engagement practices, and how their practices affect children and teens.”

These companies include retail giant Amazon, Chinese company ByteDance (which operates TikTok), Discord, Facebook, Reddit, Snapchat owner Snap, Twitter, Facebook-owned WhatsApp and Google-owned YouTube.

CEOs Sundar Pichai of Alphabet/Google, Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg and Twitter's Jack Dorsey were to testify at a Senate hearing on content moderation policies
CEOs Sundar Pichai of Alphabet/Google, Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg and Twitter's Jack Dorsey were to testify at a Senate hearing on content moderation policies AFP / Fabrice COFFRINI

COVID-19 Exposure Notifications

Apple and Google worked on creating an API that could be used by public health authorities and other developers to notify people if they’ve been in contact with, or at least in close proximity to, a person who has tested positive for the coronavirus.

This API was meant to help people know if they were in danger of being infected with the virus. And despite the fact that Apple and Google will not collect user identifiable data, people are worried about their privacy being violated by such a tool.

Epic Games vs. Big Tech

Earlier this year, “Fortnite” was removed from the iOS App Store after Epic Games attempted to insert a new payment method, violating App Store policies. This eventually blew up into a bigger issue, with Epic filing lawsuits against Apple and Google over the huge 30% cut the companies take from the developer every time it makes a sale on their platforms.

Epic caused quite a stir, attracting other companies to join the fray against the two tech giants. The legal tussles are still far from over.

RELATED STORIES
Coronavirus China India Ios