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In a recent report, Xiaomi, Huawei and BLU smartphones reportedly have an app that shares device information with a Taipei-based advertising agency, which uses it for advertising purposes.
Xiaomi, Huawei and SSB smartphones have dangerous applications, report finds | Credit: Flickr
The security of users' personal data has been a hot topic for a long time and while last year, Yahoo revealed that it was subject to the biggest cyberattack ever, endangering The Facebook data scandal has been a warning to many. In the Facebook data scandal, an app named "This Is Your Digital Life" collected personal data from users and then sold it to the Cambridge Analytica Analysis Company
. ensure the security of user data, while on the other hand, websites and hardware manufacturers have introduced new precautions for the same. Now, one report pointed out that another application collects personal data from users and is supposed to sell it to some of the larger companies.
According to the Wall Street Journal, there are cheap phones in developing markets (including India) that come with an app that collects data from your device, including the IMEI number, your data location and your Mac address. GadgetsNow cited Upstream Systems, an advertising and mobile marketing firm, saying that this app sends user data to GMobi, which happens to be a Taipei-based advertising company that uses it to target ads.
GMobi's Upstream Systems is associated with more than 100 smartphone manufacturers and has nearly 2,000 models of Android smartphones and more than 150 million users. Xiaomi, Huawei and BLU would be among the big names associated with GMobi, while Xiaomi and Huawei also have a massive reach in the Indian smartphone market.
According to GadgetsNow's report, Xiaomi and Huawei told The Wall Street Journal that they've never worked with the marketing company, while GMobi's CEO said that all of these OEMs allow the company to install the particular application to get free software updates.
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