Thu 07 April 2022:
Google recently booted over a dozen apps from its Play Store—among them Muslim prayer apps with 10 million-plus downloads, a barcode scanner, and a clock—after researchers discovered secret data-harvesting code hidden within them. Creepier still, the clandestine code was engineered by a company linked to a Virginia defense contractor, which paid developers to incorporate its code into their apps to pilfer users’ data.
US MILITARY ALLEGEDLY BUYING LOCATION DATA ON MUSLIM APP: REPORT
As per the report, Google has banned over a dozen apps from Play Store after it found that they included a line of code that was secretly harvesting user data.
The secret code was apparently engineered by a company linked to a United States defence contractor and they paid money to the software developers to incorporate the code into their apps. The code was siphoning off personal data phone numbers, contacts, etc from the devices.
Gizmodo noted that The Wall Street Journal originally published a report on the invasive code, which was discovered by researchers Serge Egelman and Joel Reardon.
The researchers have co-founded AppCensus, an organisation that basically looks after auditing mobile apps for user privacy and security. They noted their findings in a blog post, in which they revealed the full list of apps that were banned.
WSJ noted citing Reardon that the apps weren’t removed from the Play store until March 25, though they had contacted Google with their findings in October 2021.
Google stated in response: “All apps on Google Play must comply with our policies, regardless of the developer. When we determine an app violates these policies, we take appropriate action.”
AFTER MUSLIMPRO ANOTHER MUSLIM PRAYER APP FOUND TO TRACK USER LOCATIONS: REPORT
The researchers have stated that a company registered in Panama called Measurement Systems might be behind all this. In their report, the researchers have clearly mentionedn that Measurement Systems was actually registered by a company called Vostrom Holdings.
The company is said to be a firm based in Virginia. It apparently has ties with the national defence industry. WSJ has noted that Vostrom contracts with the US federal government through a subsidiary firm called Packet Forensics.
SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES
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