How Cheap Smartphones Siphon User Data in Developing Countries (wsj.com) 40
Newley Purnell, reporting for WSJ: For millions of people buying inexpensive smartphones in developing countries where privacy protections are usually low, the convenience of on-the-go internet access could come with a hidden cost: preloaded apps that harvest users' data without their knowledge. One such app, included on thousands of Chinese-made Singtech P10 smartphones sold in Myanmar and Cambodia, sends the owner's location and unique-device details to a mobile-advertising firm in Taiwan called General Mobile, or GMobi. The app also has appeared on smartphones sold in Brazil and those made by manufacturers based in China and India, security researchers say.
Taipei-based GMobi, with a subsidiary in Shanghai, says it uses the data to show targeted ads on the devices. It also sometimes shares the data with device makers to help them learn more about their customers. "If end users want a free internet service, he or she needs to suffer a little for better targeting ads," said a GMobi spokeswoman. [...] GMobi is one of several entities using the combination of low-cost smartphones and low regulations to siphon off reams of user data. Shanghai-based Adups and Indian digital advertising firm MoMagic offer similar firmware-updating services in partnership with smartphone makers.
Taipei-based GMobi, with a subsidiary in Shanghai, says it uses the data to show targeted ads on the devices. It also sometimes shares the data with device makers to help them learn more about their customers. "If end users want a free internet service, he or she needs to suffer a little for better targeting ads," said a GMobi spokeswoman. [...] GMobi is one of several entities using the combination of low-cost smartphones and low regulations to siphon off reams of user data. Shanghai-based Adups and Indian digital advertising firm MoMagic offer similar firmware-updating services in partnership with smartphone makers.
Re: Everybody knows.. (Score:5, Funny)
I hear the new phones have electrolytes.
It's what RF craves.
Re: (Score:3)
In a developing nation, it is still necessary to steal data.
In a first world nation, people fall over themselves in their hurry to give their data away.
Funny thing, that.
Re: Yes, this only happens in poor countries. (Score:1)
Re: (Score:2)
Sending spam is nearly free. So if only 0.1% falls for the trap, money is made.
Re: Yes, this only happens in poor countries. (Score:2)
Nah. People freely give away boring data. Like photos of their lunch.
For the interesting data - location history, call history, contents of your messages, live mic/camera feeds - they still have to collect it surreptitiously.
At this point, pretty much everyone knows that Big Brother Google is always watching, and that Creepy Facebook just wants to stalk you. They don't even hide their data slurping anymore.
But there are dozens of other companies that make their money by snooping and stealing your data. Try
What makes you think it's just apps? (Score:5, Insightful)
Re: What makes you think it's just apps? (Score:2)
Observe this clever disinformation technique:
First the disinfo operator states some true but inconvenient (to his employers) information. In this case mentioning the baseband radio with its factory-pwned, snooping-enabled OS.
Then the disinfo operator spews out some batshit crazy nonsense. Here this new trope about deleterious effects of "photons" from IR-equipped surveillance cameras.
By juxtaposing inconvenient truth with contrived nutty bullshit, the operation brings discredit to the former. Disinformatio
Re: (Score:1)
Versus you, who comes and shits here on /.
Lessee. $0.10 per year from 1.1B people is still $110M per year.
If you don't want a piece of that, I'm sure there are others who do.
Conflict of interest (Score:3)
Never use the OS that came with your computer. There's too much conflict of interest. Hardware vendors always screw the user on the software side.
It doesn't matter if the computer fits in your pocket. That's no excuse.
If it came with Windows, do a clean install, or better yet, install a good Linux distro.
If it came with Android, install AOSP, or Lineage (if you can't unlock the bootloader to do this, your computer is trash. Throw it in the garbage where it belongs).
And then there's the Apples ... The logo tells you all you need to know. Would you buy fruit at the grocery store if the grocer already took a bite?
Re: (Score:1)
(if you can't unlock the bootloader to do this, your computer is trash. Throw it in the garbage where it belongs)
Exactly. People shouldn't even consider buying a phone that can't have the bootloader unlocked. Better yet, just buy phones that have LineageOS official firmware already released.
A bit of yellow journalism (Score:3)
sends the owner's location and unique-device details to a mobile-advertising firm
This is the same thing that happens on every other non-Apple smartphone. Yet the journalist goes to great lengths to imply this abuse has something to do with the poverty and supposedly less regulated environs of the customers.
Re: (Score:2)
Unblocked version of article (Score:2)
Really? (Score:1)
Goodness, it sure would suck to live in a country with low privacy protections. I bet they'd even let the manufacturer continue to control the phone even after they sold it to you, And install all kinds of stuff on your device that does things that you don't want it to do. And disallow you from uninstalling it. Or, even, prohibiting you from getting root on your very own computer!
Na