There's something unsettling about a big company being able to silently reach into your pocket and take things - but that's exactly what Google has done.

The search and advertising giant used a relatively obscure feature within its popular Android operating system to remotely access the mobile phones of some users and delete installed software apps. It's a little creepy.

To be fair, it was done with the best of intentions. As the company explained on a developer blog, it made use of its inbuilt Android "kill switch" to rid some phones of applications deemed to have 'misrepresented their purpose in order to encourage user downloads'.

It transpires that the apps were created by researchers (reason not clearly explained) and, although not malicious, were deemed by Google to be not appropriate for users to install on their handsets.

Google maintains that the "kill switch" facility is needed to give the option of removing apps in the future, should any appear that are malicious. Apple has a similar feature built into its iPhone.

While I can see the point, it still leaves me feeling a little unsettled that an external party can determine what I run on my phone. If they decide something has to go, it's gone.

Is this the price we have to pay to ensure the ongoing security of mobile devices?