Several Blogs have published accounts saying that an Android application called MemoryUp, which is supposed to boost memory, is wiping out personal data from G1 Google phones, spamming people from the phone’s contact list and corrupting memory.

That accusation seems to be – at the least – overblown.

But there’s a cautionary tale in how this rumor shot around the blogosphere, and is something to keep in mind when making decisions based on blog entries, even those that show up pervasively (and yes, that means mine too).

Most of the MemoryUp reports are cut and paste jobs, reprinting the same reporting over and over. This is one of my big gripes with blogging—but I’ll get to that.

Scanning the forums myself, I expected to find what one site called “legions” of people suffering from lost data. I found one. Two more are shown on a photo of phone screen accompanying some of the reports.

Contacting Google shed little light. Its response to questions (was it removed from the market, if so voluntarily or forcibly? etc.) is the following statement:

Android is designed to minimize the impact of poorly programmed or malicious applications on the device. Each application runs within an application sandbox which limits an application’s interaction with user data, system resources and other apps. When installing an application, users are informed what the program needs to access and then decide whether they allow the application to be installed. (Translation: Some protection is built-in, but in any case, you were warned.) Furthermore, if an application is deemed harmful or inappropriate, users can flag it, give it a low rating, leave a detailed comment, and of course, remove it from their device. Once flagged by users, applications are reviewed and harmful or inappropriate applications are removed from the Market. Abusive developers can also be blocked from using the Android Market for repeated or egregious violations of our policies. (Translation: Bad actors will be found out – eventually. Too bad for the early adopters.)

Lost in the sauce was a statement a Google spokesperson gave Wired.com on January 26. “We have investigated and determined that MemoryUp is not malware.” The statement was confirmed to me, although it is no longer being proactively issued. It should be.

I e-mailed the MemoryUp developer, eMobiStudios. While waiting for a response, I visited the website, which had no mention of the kerfuffle. I think good PR dictates getting out ahead of the problem.

The result is a vacuum of reliable information in which the MemoryUp story flourished and spread like mold on month-old bread.

So now it looks as though the program causes no harm. But, as one Android developer, Sam Abadir of Fly-Cast, told me, Android basically carries out the functions of MemoryUp itself, so it’s not really helpful either.

Another result of the info-vacuum has been is a minor hit to the credibility of the Android Marketplace. The rumor put the question of how safe Android’s open market model is in the spotlight. Suddenly the hoops Apple makes developers jump through don’t seem unfairly restrictive. Apple should send a muffin basket to MemoryUp.

It also hurt MemoryUp whose reputation has now been smeared around the net. I did eventually get an e-mail from eMobiStudio CEO Robert Lee, who said that he thinks that people who were angry over his attempt to charge $15 for his app slimed the product. The rumors gained currency because the Android Market removed the paid application (currently the market is for free apps only), then mistakenly removed the free version, he said. When he reposting the free version, some customers thought he was trying to “spam the market,” he said. It is currently off the market.

I’ll make a proposal to hem in rumors and save the reputations of companies, bloggers and developers.

1) You can’t shut down rumors and the damage they cause by clamming up. Companies, come clean.

2) Don’t be lazy, Bloggers. Do your own reporting, not just reprinting.

3) Rumors love a vacuum. Developers, return calls and e-mails promptly.