A study reveals that Android would monitor its users without their consent

A survey by the Institute of IMDEA Networks and Carlos III University of Madrid revealed that the mobile phones of the Android operating system, the most used in the world, Access the personal data of its users "in a mbadive way" via applications installed by default on the devices.

The study, which was broadcast by the Spanish Data Protection Agency, included more than 82,000 pre-installed applications on more than 1,700 Android devices manufactured by 214 brands.

After a rigorous follow-up, it has been identified that the majority presents "potentially malicious" behaviors or unwanted, including samples of malicious programs, generic Trojan horses or pre-installed software that, according to their authors, would facilitate fraudulent practices.

The researchers warned that virtually all manufacturers had detected a type of preinstalled software using privileged access without the user's knowledge and giving him access to the system to obtain personal data.

Joint press release of @imdea_networks and @ uc3m on an international study that badyzes the # software pre-installed on the devices #Android and the risks for the # Privacy users. coauthors @stonybrooku and @ ICSIatBerkeley https://t.co/DHZzcT475z

– Institute of IMDEA Networks (@IMDEA_Networks) March 19, 2019

"The conclusion is that there is a complex system of developers and commercial agreements with preinstalled applications whose permissions do not match those of Android, to give access to their services without a user." way can uninstall them " Narseo Vallina-Rodríguez, from IMDEA Networks.

According to experts, the beneficiaries of Android users' data access are a multitude of companies: manufacturers, operators, social networks, multimedia companies, video games, antivirus and many more, for their own commercial activities. . or sell the information.

In fact, the report was intended to reveal commercial agreements between vendors of Android devices and third parties, including organizations that specialize in tracking users and providing Internet advertising.

Of that type, the study identified 1,200 companies and more than 11,000 bookstores (software included in applications to provide additional services), many of which are related to online advertising and surveillance activities for commercial purposes.

Android is a mobile operating system developed by Google, based on the Linux kernel and other open source software. It is estimated that between 37 and 40% of mobile devices accessing the web use it.