Chinese phone cameras discreetly record users' activities

It has been widely reported that software and web applications manufactured in China are often built with a "backdoor" function, allowing the manufacturer or the government to monitor and collect data from the device. ;user.

But how exactly does backdoor function work? Recent discussions among mobile phone users in mainland China have shed light on the issue

Last month, users of Vivo NEX, a Chinese Android phone, found that when they opened some applications on the phone, including the Chinese giant QQ browser and Ctrip travel booking application, the mobile device self-activates.

Different from most mobile phones, where a camera can be activated without giving a signal to the user, the Vivo NEX has a small retractable camera on top of the camera when he is on.

Although perhaps unintentionally, this design feature gave Chinese mobile users a concrete idea of ​​when and how they are being monitored.

A Weibo user has observed that the retractable camera self-activates whenever it opens a new chat on Telegram, an email application designed for secure and encrypted communication.

While Telegram reacted quickly to reports on the problem The Chinese Internet giant, Tencent, defended the feature, claiming that its QQ browser needed the camera to prepare to scan QR codes and has insisted that the camera would not take pictures or audio recordings.

This explanation was not rebaduring to users as it only revealed the extent to which the QQ browser could record users' activities.

Users began to test the problem on other applications and discovered that Baidu's voice input application has access to both the camera and the voice recording function, which can be launched without the permission of users.

The user of Vivo NEX found that once she had installed Baidu's voice input system, she activated the camera function and sound recording of the phone each once the user opened an application – including chat applications, browsers -. It allows the user to enter text.

Baidu says that the self-activated registration is not a backdoor but an "entry door" application that allows the company to collect and adjust the background noise to prepare and optimize his voice. function of entry. This was not rebaduring for users – any microphone gathering background noise would definitely capture the voices and conversations of a user and who she is talking to face to face.

Baidu is known for introducing into the data and private activities of users. In January 2018, a government-affiliated consumer badociation in Jiangsu Province filed a lawsuit against Baidu's search application and mobile browser for searching users' phone conversations and accessing their location data without the consent of the user. But the case was dropped in March after Baidu updated its apps by obtaining users' consent for control of their mobile camera, voice recording, geolocation data, even though these controls are not essential to the functionality of the application. Public concerns about these backdoor features, Baidu and other Chinese internet giants can defend themselves simply by claiming that users have consented to have their cameras activated. But given the monopoly nature of China's Internet giants in the country, do ordinary users have the power – or the choice – to say no?

Related: With 963 Million Users, WeChat Attracts US Brands

How Does Camera Search Affect People Outside of China?

These espionage traits have not only affected people in mainland China, but all those overseas who want to communicate with friends in China. the government has blocked most of the major foreign social media technologies, anyone who wants to communicate with people in China has no choice but to install applications made in China, such as WeChat.

A strategy to increase the privacy of its mobile applications is to keep all unsecured applications on a device and to badume that these communications will be recorded or spied on, and to keep a second device for more secure or "clean" applications . When using an encrypted communication app like Telegram to communicate with friends in China, you should also make sure your friends' mobile devices are clean.

This story was originally published in Global Voices.