Study Shows Some Android Apps Leak User Data Without Clear Notifications

Something as simple as changing your Android phone's wallpaper or downloading a ringtone could transmit personal data about you, including your location, without your knowledge. It's not: About 15 of 30 randomly selected, popular, free Android apps sent sent users’ private information to remote advertising servers and two-thirds of the apps handled data in ambiguous ways, say researchers. The latest data supports a study published in June by mobile security company SMobile Systems that found 20 percent of the then-available 48,000 third-party applications for the Android operating system provided sensitive or private information to outside sources. In July, a mobile security firm called Lookout identified a free wallpaper Android app, Jackeey, that allegedly gathered data about its users, including their phone numbers, carrier subscriber identifiers and phone number of their voicemail accounts. But as the Android Market grows rapidly--it has more than 90,000 apps--it raises questions about how well app makers handle data.