• Governments Tracking Users via Push Notifications

    From Telecom Digest Moderator@21:1/5 to All on Wed Dec 6 12:13:00 2023
    https://www.reuters.com/technology/cybersecurity/governments-spying-apple-google-users-through-push-notifications-us-senator-2023-12-06/

    WASHINGTON, Dec 6 (Reuters) - Unidentified governments are surveilling smartphone users via their apps' push notifications, a U.S. senator
    warned on Wednesday.

    In a letter to the Department of Justice, Senator Ron Wyden said foreign officials were demanding the data from Alphabet's (GOOGL.O) Google and
    Apple (AAPL.O). Although details were sparse, the letter lays out yet
    another path by which governments can track smartphones.

    ...

    That gives the two companies unique insight into the traffic flowing
    from those apps to their users, and in turn puts them "in a unique
    position to facilitate government surveillance of how users are using particular apps," Wyden said. He asked the Department of Justice to
    "repeal or modify any policies" that hindered public discussions of push notification spying.

    In a statement, Apple said that Wyden's letter gave them the opening
    they needed to share more details with the public about how governments monitored push notifications.

    ...

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