LifeLock is a company that claims it can protect consumers from identity theft, but it found recently that its own apps might be part of the problem. The company bought Lemon Wallet late last year, gaining control of its mobile wallet apps on iOS and Android. Now those apps have been pulled from their respective app stores after concerns over the safety of data stored in them. Oops.
The Android app is still technically in the Play Store, but it's only visible with a direct link to those who have installed it before. The app invited users to securely log personal information like driver's licenses, credit cards, account numbers, and generic text that needed to be kept safe and sound. Perhaps LifeLock should have looked into the apps a little more closely before acquiring Lemon for nearly $50 million. The firm now realizes the app lacked sufficient security measures, and has deleted all data stored on its servers and local copies will be purged when the app is run on users' devices (note, this is separate from its main business). The exact nature of the problem was not disclosed.
LifeLock has had more than its share of trouble as a company in recent years. It was fined $12 million by the FTC in 2010 after being accused of deceptive advertising. The CEO has also had his identity stolen several times after intentionally revealing his social security number to show his faith in LifeLock's service. So those were major stumbles, but at least we can give it credit for acknowledging the problem and pulling the apps this time. The apps might come back later, but there's no timeline on that.