The Google Play Protect logo may appear on your next smartphone's packaging

Google's I/O press conference from a few months back played host to a peculiar new software launch: that of Google Play Protect, the tech giant's answer to the ever-growing threat of malicious Android apps. In essence, it's a scanner service built into Google's Play Services, which scans apps installed on a user's device for unwanted behavior — great, right?

Sure, except for the fact that it's nothing more than a simple marketing trick. That is, Google Play Protect is just a rebranding of several services that have existed for years now, and which ...