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Privacy Security Android

Spying Concerns Raised Over Iran's Official COVID-19 Detection App (zdnet.com) 8

Catalin Cimpanu, reporting for ZDNet: Google has removed an Android app from the official Play Store that was developed by the Iranian government to test and keep track of COVID-19 (coronavirus) infections. Before being removed from the Play Store, controversy surrounded the app, and several users accused the Iranian government of using the COVID-19 scare to trick citizens into installing the app and then collecting phone numbers and real-time geo-location data. In hindsight of accusations, ZDNet has asked Lukas Stefanko, an Android malware researcher at ESET, to review the app for any malicious or spyware-like behavior.

"Based on the analysis of the app's APK, the app is not a malicious Trojan or spyware," Stefanko told ZDNet earlier this week. A Google spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment on the reasons the app was removed; however, sources familiar with Play Store policies told ZDNet that the app was most likely taken down because of its misleading claims -- namely that it could detect COVID-19 infections, something that is impossible through an app.

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Spying Concerns Raised Over Iran's Official COVID-19 Detection App

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