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Robocall blocking apps caught sending your data without permission – TechCrunch
Robocall-blocking apps promise to rid your life of spoofed and spam phone calls. But are they as trustworthy as they claim to be?
One security researcher said many of these apps can violate your privacy as soon as they are opened.
Dan Hastings, a senior security consultant at cybersecurity firm NCC Group, analyzed some of the most popular robocall-blocking apps — including TrapCall, Truecaller and Hiya — and found egregious privacy violations.
[...] many of these apps, said Hastings, send user or device data to third-party data analytics companies — often to monetize your information — without your explicit consent, instead burying the details in their privacy policies.
One app, TrapCall, sent users’ phone numbers to a third-party analytics firm, AppsFlyer, without telling users — neither in the app nor in the privacy policy.
He also found Truecaller and Hiya uploaded device data — device type, model and software version, among other things — before a user could accept their privacy policies. Those apps, said Hastings, violate Apple’s app guidelines on data use and sharing, which mandate that app makers first obtain permission before using or sending data to third-parties.
Many of the other apps aren’t much better. Several other apps that Hastings tested immediately sent some data to Facebook as soon as the app loaded.
(Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Monday August 12 2019, @12:27AM (2 children)
What kind of silly bullshit is that??
A simple option to whitelist your contacts fixes everything, or not?
La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
(Score: 2) by Snotnose on Monday August 12 2019, @02:42AM (1 child)
So your wife/kid gets into some kind of accident and borrows a stranger's phone to call you for help, and you ignore it. Great solution.
When the dust settled America realized it was saved by a porn star.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by AthanasiusKircher on Monday August 12 2019, @03:00AM
Easy solution -- whitelist your contacts so that only your contacts can cause your phone to ring. But leave on a notification for a new voicemail.
That's what I do. 98% of the time robocalls and spam will not leave a voicemail. On the rare occasion I do get a voicemail, I check it and can usually tell within 5 seconds that it's a robocall/spam, so I hit delete.
Easy peasy, no spy apps required, and takes into account your rare corner case.