In an effort to help governments track the coronavirus outbreaks, Apple and Google released their frameworks for contact tracing in April 2020. At the time, both firms promised that user data would remain private. But a watchdog group, AppCensus, found that’s not been the case.
Google and Apple initially said that user data would be shared with public health agencies only, which encouraged millions of users across the globe to download contact apps developed by both Big Tech giants.
AppCensus researchers discovered a privacy flaw in the Android version of contact tracing tools. They informed Google about it, but to no avail. Even after Joel Reardon, co-founder and forensics lead of AppCensus, said it was an “obvious fix,” Google failed to act, he said.
The primary issue is that preinstalled system apps such as Samsung Browser on Samsung’s Android devices or MotoCare on Motorola’s Android devices is capable of accessing sensitive, private information stored in system logs by contact tracing apps, Reardon said, adding that hundreds of preinstalled apps can still read those system logs.
“They’re actually collecting information that would be devastating to the privacy of people who use contact tracing,” he said.
SOURCES:
The Markup April 27, 2021
Reclaim the Net April 27, 2021