EFF: Verizon will install spyware on all its Android phones
But the EFF spent a little time staring at AppFlash’s privacy policy, where it’s revealed that the software will vacuum up any and all of your private data. For instance, it’ll snag your cell number, device type, operating system and the apps or services that you use. More crucially, the app will also harvest the details of everything installed on your device, your location and the contact details of everyone in your phonebook.
Verizon admits that the information will be shared within “the Verizon family of companies,” including that of (Engadget parent) Aol. From there, the data will be used to “provide more relevant advertising within the AppFlash experiences and in other places.” The other places being a euphemism for banner and display advertising all across the web.
So, if you’re trying for a baby and you’ve got a fertility app on your phone, it’s reasonable to expect plenty of banner ads for diapers and formula feeding. If you’re doing something more private, like making your first steps out of the closet or dealing with a substance abuse issue — and you’ve got a relevant app — then Verizon’s gonna know about it.
To be fair, Verizon justifies its stance by saying that it’ll need some of this data in order to make on-demand services work. How, after all, can it seamlessly tell you local movie times and call you an Uber to the cinema if it doesn’t know where you are? Not to mention that Google already snatches most of this information for its own purposes.
But, as the EFF points out, most of the Android devices on Verizon’s network will now have a common app that hackers will be probing for holes. Should a nefarious type find such a vulnerability, then you can be sure that same personal data will be sold off to the highest bidder.
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