Several Android apps found to RECORD your phone screen and send the information to third parties
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Loading... - Veronica Gutierrez
- 05 Jul 2021
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If you use an Android phone, you may want to be wary about how you interact with certain apps .
A worrying new study has revealed that several Android apps record your phone screen and send the information to third parties.
Researchers from Northeastern University discovered the issue.
Elleen Pan, who worked on the study, said: “Our study reveals several alarming privacy risks in the Android app ecosystem, including apps that over-provision their media permissions and apps that share image and video data with other parties in unexpected ways, without user knowledge or consent.”
In the study, the researchers analysed 17,260 apps, and discovered that 21 were recording screens and sending the footage on.
This included GoPuff, a US food delivery app, which was found to record private messages, personal information and even passwords being entered and send them on to a firm called Appsee - without asking for the user’s permission.
The researchers contacted GoPuff, and the app has now changed its policy to disclose that Appsee may receive user recordings.
Of the 17,260 apps analysed, the researchers found that more than 9,000 had permission to access the microphone and camera.
In response to the findings, Google highlighted that its policy states that developers have to disclose to users how their data will be collected.
Speaking to Gizmodo, a Google spokesperson said: “We always appreciate the research community’s hard work to help improve online privacy and security practices.”
