‘Serious’ privacy risks prompt Google Play Store to remove 4 lending apps

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MANILA, Philippines — The National Privacy Commission (NPC) on Wednesday announced Google Play Store’s removal of four online lending applications (OLA), JuanHand, Pesopop, CashJeep and Lemon Load, due to “serious” privacy risks it poses to users of the apps.

This developed after the NPC requested Google LLC to take down the apps, making them no longer available for download in the Google Play Store on Android smartphones.

The NPC said the OLAs posed serious privacy risks to individuals who download the apps, furnishing copies to Google to remove them from Google Play Store.

According to NPC, the four OLAs processing of their borrowers’ information, such as contacts, location, photos, media files, email, and social media data, pose serious privacy concerns that expose borrowers to privacy risks and harms.

Privacy Commissioner Raymund Enriquez Liboro then urged other OLAs to use “lawful and reasonable methods” when processing data of loan applicants.

“For other OLAs, the NPC strongly urges you to employ know-your-customer (KYC) and debt collection practices that are aligned with NPC Circular No. 20-01, where we laid out guidelines on the processing of personal data for loan-related transactions,” said Liboro.

The four lending apps had been downloaded more than 2.1 million times from the Google Play Store.

Meanwhile, the NPC has already directed Wefund Lending Corp., Joywin Lending Investor Inc., Cash8 Lending Corp., and Populus Lending Corp. – operators of Juan Hand, Lemon Loan, CashJeep, and Pesopop, respectively – to stop the processing of their borrowers’ personal data, in four separate orders.

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