Google: Struggles with Curation
April 21, 2022
Should Google outsource Play store content curation to Amazon’s Mechanical Turk or Fiverr?
Sadly, one cannot assume that because an app is available through Google Play it is safe. Engadget reports, “Google Pulls Apps that May Have Harvested Data from Millions of Android Devices.” Writer S. Dent reveals:
“Google has pulled dozens of apps used by millions of users after finding that they covertly harvested data, The Wall Street Journal has reported. Researchers found weather apps, highway radar apps, QR scanners, prayer apps and others containing code that could harvest a user’s precise location, email, phone numbers and more. It was made by Measurement Systems, a company that’s reportedly linked to a Virginia defense contractor that does cyber-intelligence and more for US national-security agencies. It has denied the allegations.”
Naturally. We find it interesting that, according to the report, the firm was after data mainly from the Middle East, Central and Eastern Europe and Asia. The write-up continues:
“The code was discovered by researchers Serge Egelman from UC Berkeley and the University of Calgary’s Joel Reardon, who disclosed their findings to federal regulators and Google. It can ‘without a doubt be described as malware,’ Egelman told the WSJ. Measurement Systems reportedly paid developers to add their software development kits (SDKs) to apps. The developers would not only be paid, but receive detailed information about their user base. The SDK was present on apps downloaded to at least 60 million mobile devices. One app developer said it was told that the code was collecting data on behalf of ISPs along with financial service and energy companies.”
So how did these apps slip through the vetting process? Maybe the app review methods are flawed, not applied rigorously, not applied consistently. Or perhaps they are simply a bit of PR hogwash? We don’t know but the question is intriguing. Google has removed the apps from the Play store but of course they still lurk on millions of devices. In its email to the Wall Street Journal, Measurement Systems not only insists its apps are innocent, but it also asserts it is “not aware” of any connection between it and US defense contractors.
And what about the quantumly supreme Google smart software?
Cynthia Murrell, April 21, 2022
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