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posted by martyb on Sunday September 24 2017, @08:40AM   Printer-friendly
from the Go-Fish! dept.

Submitted via IRC for SoyCow8963

Security researchers from Adguard have issued a warning that the popular GO Keyboard app is spying on users. Produced by Chinese developers GOMO Dev Team, GO Keyboard was found to be transmitting personal information about users back to remote servers, as well as "using a prohibited technique to download dangerous executable code."

Adguard made the discovery while conducting research into the traffic consumption and unwanted behavior of various Android keyboards. The AdGuard for Android app makes it possible to see exactly what traffic an app is generating, and it showed that GO Keyboard was making worrying connections, making use of trackers, and sharing personal information.

[...] Within the app description, the developers say:

PRIVACY and security
We will never collect your personal info including credit card information. In fact, we cares for privacy of what you type and who you type! [sic]

But Adguard points out that this is contradicted by the company's privacy policy. In addition to this, GO Keyboard shares personal information right after installation, communicates with dozens of tracking servers, and has access to sensitive data on phone. Adguard concedes that this is fairly typical for modern apps, but goes on to say that the app violates Google Play policies.

The apps in question are:

Source: https://betanews.com/2017/09/21/go-keyboard-spying-warning/


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  • (Score: 2) by RamiK on Sunday September 24 2017, @11:41AM

    by RamiK (1813) on Sunday September 24 2017, @11:41AM (#572281)

    Android doesn't prevent you from sideloading APKs. There's even a FOSS app store: https://f-droid.org/ [f-droid.org]

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