|
Internet firms spy on personal texts sent on
smartphones
Sunday February 26, 2012 05:32:44 PM,
IANS
|
|
|
|
|
London: Top internet
firms like Facebook, Yahoo and Flickr are able to read personal
text messages and photographs sent via smartphones because many
mobile phone apps give their developers the right to go through
such content.
Many phone users do not know that when they agree to the terms and
conditions, they are actually giving developers the right to
inspect their personal information, the Daily Mail reported.
In some cases, the apps also get the right to collect whatever
images the phone camera happens to be seeing.
Facebook, Yahoo, Flickr and Badoo have all admitted to reading
users' text messages through their Android smartphone apps,
according to the Sunday Times.
Many other apps -- some of them available for free -- also include
in their terms and conditions the rights to access users' personal
data.
Daniel Rosenfield, director of a successful app business whose
products are downloaded at a rate of 5,000 a day, said the
information was requested by advertisers.
"You can sell your app but the revenue you get from selling your
apps doesn't touch the revenue you get from giving your apps away
for free and just loading them with advertisements," he was quoted
as saying.
The report said Twitter has also admitted that it copied lists of
email addresses and phone numbers from people who used its
smartphone application and stored them on its servers without
taking users' permission.
In 2007, late Apple founder Steve Jobs spoke of the dangers of
instrusive apps. He warned that many "want to take a lot of your
personal data and suck it up".
|
|
Home |
Top of the Page
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Top Stories |
|
 Politics of hatred has triumphed in Gujarat: Harsh Mander
The story
of Gujarat is more about the triumph of politics of hatred,
symbolised by Chief Minister Narendra Modi
»
When we stood with pickaxes in Vadodara
Indian American Muslims mourn Gujarat victims, demand justice
‘Vibrant
Gujarat has left the state’s Muslims in an economic ghetto'
|
|
|
|
Most Read |
|
 'Face' of Gujarat riots to launch Mumbai protest initiative
Qutubuddin
Ansari, the famous 'face' of the 2002 Gujarat riots, will exhort
Indians to mark as a black day the 10th anniversary of the carnage
»
A decade of Gujarat Carnage 2002
|
|
Iran's nuclear bomb: US agencies believe there is no evidence
While the
UN nuclear watchdog has reported that Iran has accelerated its
uranium enrichment programme, the US intelligence analysts believe
there is no hard evidence of the Islamic Republic deciding to
build a nuclear bomb. As per current and former American
officials, recent
» |
|
|
|
News Pick |
|
Pakistan to tap Interpol for Musharraf's arrest
Pakistan's
Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has been directed to write to
global policing agency Interpol for issuing an arrest warrant
against former Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf, Interior
Minister Rehman Malik has said.
» |
|
China's veto of UNSC resolution on Syria
misunderstood: Envoy
China has
said its veto of a UN Security Council resolution on Syria was
"misunderstood", and called for a peaceful solution to the crisis.
"China's stance wasn't »
'Syrian conflict may become long and bloody' |
|
 MANUU
opens its doors to non-Urdu speaking staff; creates unrest
In a shocking decision for the Muslims, Maulana Azad National Urdu
University (MANUU) - the leading Urdu university of the
» |
|
|
|
Picture of the Day |
|
 |
|
Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh
presenting a memento to the President of Rotary International
Kalyan Banerjee at the inauguration of the Polio Summit 2012,
in New Delhi on February 25, 2012. Union Minister for Health
and Family Welfare Ghulam Nabi Azad and Minister of State for
Health and Family Welfare Sudip Bandyopadhyay are also seen.
(Photo: Asish
Maitra) |
|
|
|
|
Comments
|
Quick links