Mobile Phone Chip Company Collects User’s Private Data

Uploaded on 2023-05-17 in FREE TO VIEW, BUSINESS-Services-IT & Telecoms

The smartphone is a device we trust with many of our secrets and is a ubiquitous device which many users carry with them all the time. When we use our mobile phones we expect to have a high degree of privacy. Whether we’re making a call, sending a text or browsing the web, we assume we have full control over who can see or hear what we’re doing.

The reality is that someone could be listening in and you might never know and now, Qualcomm a US company specialising in manufacturing wireless telecommunications hardware has allegedly been secretly collecting user data.

Qualcomm's technology is used in various mobile devices, including smartphones, wearables, as well as industrial and automotive applications. They contribute to wireless technology development, such as 5G, Bluetooth, and Wi-Fi 6. The company specialises in several other technologies used across the wireless ecosystem, including AR/VR and features for device charging.

Chips produced by the company are used in approximately 30% of all Android devices, as well as some Apple smartphones.

Research published by IT security hardware firm Nitrokey claims that hardware produced by Qualcomm was uploading users’ private data, including IP addresses, to a cloud attributed to the company without their consent. As data sharing with Qualcomm is not mentioned in Sony’s terms of service (the vendor of the device used by a researcher), Android, or non-Google /e/OS operating systems, this might violate General Data Protection Regulation laws (GDPR).

Nitrokey claims that on top of the concerns regarding consent, the data packages are sent via the HTTP protocol and are not encrypted using HTTPS, SSL, or TLS. This makes them vulnerable to attacks. By collecting this data and creating record history using the phone’s unique ID and serial number, anyone on the network, including malicious actors, government agencies, network administrators, and telecom operators could easily spy on users.

According to Qualcomm, the collection of information was in accordance with their privacy policy that states the following: “Through these software applications, we may collect location data, unique identifiers (such as a chipset serial number or international subscriber ID), data about the applications installed and/or running on the device, configuration data such as the make, model, and wireless carrier, the operating system and version data, software build data, and data about the performance of the device such as performance of the chipset, battery use, and thermal data... We may also obtain personal data from third party sources such as data brokers, social networks, other partners, or public sources.”

Both Apple and Android with their App Store and Google Play Store are spying on its paying customers. As a private alternative some people prefer to install a Google-free version of Android on their ordinary smartphone.

Nitrokey: I-HLS: Cybernews: Daily Mail: TMB: Reddit: CGTN:

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