Android apps removed by Google for security reasons

Google has had to remove several apps remotely from Android phones and from the Android Market for what they have deemed "security concerns." Via the Android Developers blog, Google's Android Security Lead Rich Cannings offered the following explanation:

"In cases where users may have installed a malicious application that poses a threat, we've also developed technologies and processes to remotely remove an installed application from devices. If an application is removed in this way, users will receive a notification on their phone."

Google apparently came across a couple of apps that, in their words, "intentionally misrepresented their purpose in order to encourage user downloads, but they were not designed to be used maliciously, and did not have permission to access private data - or system resources beyond permission." The publisher removed the app from the store, but Google had to remotely remove the app from any phone that had downloaded it.