According to sources in the United States, Google yanked dozens of apps used by millions of people after it was discovered that it was secretly collecting personal data.
According to a report from The Wall Street Journal, researchers revealed that weather apps, highway radar apps, QR scanners, prayer applications, and other apps have code that can gather a user’s exact position, email and phone numbers, as well as other data. The American Journal is a publication that publishes articles on
The apps removed from the Google Play store were made by Measurement Systems, a business tied to a Virginia defense contractor that handles cyber intelligence and other work for US national security agencies, according to the newspaper.
The programs have been downloaded on at least 60 million smart devices running the “Android” operating system, according to the newspaper’s research.
Researchers Serge Eagleman of the University of California, Berkeley, and Joel Reardon of the University of Calgary identified the code in the apps and reported their results to federal officials and Google.
It might “without a doubt classify as malware,” Eagleman told the Wall Street Journal.
Data from the developers of these apps has apparently been requested by Measurement Systems, primarily from the Middle East, Central and Eastern Europe, and Asia.
Volstrom Holdings, which engages with the US federal government through a business called Packet Forensics LLC, registered the Measurement Systems domain.
And, according to the “Wall Street Journal” investigation, “Measurements Systems” disputed all of the charges.
In a statement to the American newspaper, she added, “The charges you make regarding the company’s operations are incorrect.” “We are also unaware of any discussions between our company and US defense contractors, nor of a company called “Vostrom,” and we are unsure what Packet Forensics is or how it is related to our company.”