Say It Ain't So, Mario

Google Chrome apps are amazing.  They are convenient, mostly bug free and can be fun.  Of course, someone has to ruin that.  It appears there is a Super Mario Bros clone that reads all the user's data, including web history, pages that are currently open, and other sensitive data including location.

Mikko Hypponen, chief research officer for the Finnish security firm F-Secure, told SecurityNewsDaily that he believes these rogue-looking "Super Mario" apps are not fraudulent, but rather cases of "aggressive marketing" designed to profile "your online use so they can market to you better."

Market to us?  But what if we don't want that?  This isn't an option for players, and it's downright sneaky to give any app hidden portals into your information.  There is no disclosure or fair notification. 

It doesn't take much certification to get an app in Google's Chrome Web Store. Developers are required to a pay a one-time $5 registration fee "in order to verify developer accounts and better protect users against fraudulent activity," Google writes in a Chrome Web store blog.

"We don't make a habit out of commenting on individual apps," a Google spokesperson told SecurityNewsDaily in an email. "That said, we can ask our teams to investigate this one, and we will take the appropriate action in accordance with our policies."


The Google spokesperson added, "By making user rating and reviews available for all apps in the store, we believe the community will also flag these apps, either for removal, or with poor ratings."

If Google wants to win over consumers, maybe they should start the trend of investigating the apps that they market, instead of putting the responsibility on users who do not understand what these security breaches can do. If they are going to let them run under their name and on their product, there is a certain amount of responsibility.  And while one comment says that Windows doesn't inspect all Windows apps, the difference between an operating system and a browser are profound, and we should all expect better ethics than those shown by Microsoft, who shamelessly sells out their customers for convenience and "marketing opportunities."