Google lets you see the apps connected to your account at the My Account section of its website, and today many on the web have noticed something interesting: Pokémon Go, the new hit smartphone game that’s pretty much taking over the world, is getting full access to many users’ Google accounts. That’s the same privilege that Google Chrome and Chromecast get. Currently, this appears to affect those that have used the Google sign in feature in the iOS app.
Here’s what Google’s official support document says about apps that have full access to your Google account:
When you grant full account access, the application can see and modify nearly all information in your Google Account (but it can’t change your password, delete your account, or pay with Google Wallet on your behalf).
Certain Google applications may be listed under full account access. For example, you might see that the Google Maps application you downloaded for your iPhone has full account access.
If you head over to the privacy page on Google’s site, you should see the below section, titled “Pokemon Go Release” alongside the Authorization date and the option to revoke access. The first thing that comes to mind here is that Niantic and Google are so closely tied that this could just be an accident, but that’s somewhat alarming considering that Niantic spun out of Google as Niantic, Inc. in October 2015.
There’s no reason to us the game should have access to literally all of your Google account. Niantic’s first killer game, Ingress only requests the usual “Basic account info” including email address and profile info.
