Google disables iPhone app that studied users’ digital habits

San Francisco (Reuters): Alphabet Inc.’s Google said on Wednesday it disabled an iPhone app that it had paid some users to install to study their digital habits, following a similar move late on Tuesday by social media network Facebook Inc.

Google and Facebook had faced criticism from privacy experts for distributing their research apps through a program iPhone maker Apple Inc. had created for companies to distribute apps to employees.

“The Screenwise Meter iOS app should not have operated under Apple’s developer enterprise program — this was a mistake, and we apologise,” Google said in a statement.

Apple did not immediately respond to a request to comment.