UC Browser app vanishes from Play Store for this reason

Google seems to have taken down the UC Browser application from Play Store, although UC Web’s other offering — the UC Browser Mini — is still available for download.

The IT giant took this step shortly after the application came under the Indian government’s scanner for allegedly sending data to remote servers in China. It was said that the application could access user data even after its removal from the phone. The Centre for Development of Advanced Computing in Hyderabad is investigating the matter.

UC Browser, however, is still available for download on Apple Store.

This is not the first time UC Browser had landed in a soup over user privacy. Back in 2015, Canadian technology research group Citizen Lab reported that the application was providing critical personal information, including location, mobile number and device details, to third-party applications.

Such leaks “represent a privacy risk for users because it allows anyone with access to data traffic to identify users and their devices, and collect their private search data”, Citizen Lab said in its report.