After USA ban: Google kicks Kaspersky out of Play Store
The de facto Kaspersky ban in the USA is having a global impact: Google kicks the manufacturer and its products out of the Play Store.
(Image: Bild erstellt mit KI in Bing Image Creator durch heise online / dmk)
Kaspersky 's US ban has global repercussions. The US government has banned the sale of the manufacturer's software. Google has followed suit and removed both the software and the company's accounts from Google Play.
This means that the ban in the USA no longer only affects the local market, but also the German-speaking countries, among others. Kaspersky apps can no longer be found and installed in the Google Play Store here either.
Kaspersky sees removal as merely a temporary situation
In the Kaspersky forum, an employee of the company writes that downloads and updates of Kaspersky software in the Google Play Store are "temporarily unavailable". The company is investigating the circumstances of the problem and exploring possible solutions to allow users to download and update the software from the Play Store again. Kaspersky apologizes for any inconvenience this may have caused.
Google confirmed the expulsion to US media: "The US Department of Commerce recently imposed a number of restrictions on Kaspersky. As a result, we have removed Kaspersky apps from Google Play". Kaspersky suggests that interested parties could obtain Kaspersky software and associated updates from alternative sources and app stores. The Russians cite the Samsung Galaxy Store, Huawai's AppGallery and Xiaomi's GetApps as examples.
Kaspersky explains to heise online that Google is overreacting. "Recently, Google Play Store informed Kaspersky that the company's developer account had been terminated and its product apps removed from the platform," the company explains. Kaspersky also complains: "Although these restrictions have no significant legal implications outside the US, Google has unilaterally decided to remove our products from Google Play before September 29, denying users worldwide access to Kaspersky solutions."
Kaspersky is convinced that this decision by Google is based on an over-interpretation of the US restrictions and is not supported by any confirmation from the US Department of Commerce. "Kaspersky has also communicated this view to the US Department of Commerce and hopes to receive further information from the Department in the near future," the company explains. In the meantime, downloads are also available directly on the Kaspersky website in addition to the app stores mentioned.
A look at its competitor Apple shows that Google may actually have overshot the mark. Kaspersky VPN and antivirus software is still available in the Apple stores in both Germany and the UK at the time of reporting. An answer to an inquiry from heise online to Google in this regard is still pending. We will update this report as soon as we receive a reply.
Kaspersky is withdrawing from the US market in response to the ban on trade and distribution there. Around two weeks ago, customers in the USA were automatically switched to the anti-virus software UltraAV from the manufacturer Pango without any further queries.
(dmk)