If you're using an Android phone, you may want to be wary of how you interact with certain apps.
A disturbing new study revealed that several Android apps are recording the screen of your phone and sending information to third parties.
Researchers at Northeastern University have discovered the problem. Elleen Pan, who worked on the study, said: "Our study reveals several alarming privacy risks in the ecosystem of the Android application, including applications that over-provision their media permissions and applications that share image and video data with other unexpected parties.
Twitter on Android (Image: Getty)
In the study, researchers analyzed 17,260 applications and discovered that 21 recorded recordings and sent images.
This included GoPuff, a US food delivery application, which recorded messages, personal information and even passwords being entered and sent to a company called Appsee – without asking permission from the user.
The researchers contacted GoPuff, and the application has now changed its policy to disclose that Appsee can receive user records.
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Of the 17,260 applications analyzed, researchers found that more than 9,000 had permission to access the microphone and camera.
In response to the results, Google said that its policy states that developers must disclose to users when addressing Gizmodo, a Google spokesman said: "We always appreciate the hard work of the community of research to help improve online security and privacy practices. "
