Google is facing a High Court battle over a mobile app for Monifieth.
A former Angus man who developed the app after battling back from the brink of death is launching legal action against the tech giant which could cost him £20,000.
Paul Cuthbertson, 27, who now lives in Belfast, taught himself how to write mobile apps and developed ‘Absolutely Monifieth’ which was launched in August.
Mr Cuthbertson went to Seaview Primary, Monifieth High School, Dundee College and Edinburgh Telford College before moving to Northern Ireland.
Android users in Monifieth are now having to use alternative measures to use the app after Google terminated Mr Cuthbertson’s account “due to multiple policy violations”.
The law suit arose after months of trying to resolve an account dispute between Mr Cuthbertson and Google Play which Mr Cuthbertson said has left him heartbroken.
He said: “This is the app I am most passionate about as I know it has greatly impacted the residents of Monifieth.”
In addition to Absolutely Monifieth, Mr Cuthbertson has developed another 10 apps which were available on Google’s app download platform, Google Play.
Mr Cuthbertson said: “I decided to remove an irrelevant sentence from five of my apps on Google Play and to my surprise this identical update to identical apps received a variety of different outcomes.
“The update was approved for two of the apps without questions. Another two were rejected because of in-app advertising.
“The last received a suspension and termination to my account for apparent ‘deceptive behaviour’.
“How can five identical apps have different results with an identical update?
“I have spent two months now fighting with Google to get my account reinstated and have got nowhere.
“Their appeal system is automated and I have presented clear evidence to them that I have not broken any policies and requested to speak to supervisors but have got nowhere.”
Mr Cuthbertson has also taken his complaint to the CEO of Google, Head of Google UK and Ireland and the head of Google Play without response and has now taken legal advice.
He said: “Since all other options are now exhausted, I have consulted with a solicitor who believes I have a case for breach of contract.
“The solicitor advised me this case would need to go to the High Court as county courts cannot demand Google to reinstate my developer account.”
Mr Cuthbertson almost lost his life in 2011 when he was involved in a serious car accident in 2011 on the A74 and it took him years to fully recover.
Legal fees could be as much as £20,000 and his partner David Thompson has created a ‘go fund me’ page to try and reach out to the Monifieth community.
Mr Cuthbertson has been looking at other methods of distributing Absolutely Monifieth including getting the app published on the Amazon app store and making the app available on the Absolutely Monifieth website for direct download.
A spokeswoman for Google Play said it would not be reinstating Mr Cuthbertson’s developer account despite Mr Cuthbertson’s appeal.
She said the account has been terminated “due to multiple policy violations”.
