Report: VPN and Adblock Apps May Have Spied on Users Phones

[engine]

According to a report, a number of adblocking and VPN apps from one company may have been reporting user traffic to the app owners.

The apps “don’t disclose their connection to the company or reveal that they feed user data to Sensor Tower’s products,” according to BuzzFeed. Four of them were recently available on the Play Store under the names Free and Unlimited VPN, Luna VPN, Mobile Data, and Adblock Focus. The Adblock Focus and Luna VPN apps also appeared on the App Store.

[gizmodo.com...]

[lammert]

According to BuzzFeed, the Sensor Tower-owned apps prompted users to install a root certificate via a third-party website, dodging security restrictions in Apple’s App Store and Google’s Play Store.

If you install a VPN app for privacy, and the first thing it does is asking you to install a root certificate, you shouldn't just walk, but run. That 35 million people nevertheless installed the apps baffles me.

[Dimitri]

If you install a VPN app for privacy, and the first thing it does is asking you to install a root certificate, you shouldn't just walk, but run.

In the other hand, among the average users, how many know what is a root certificate? and its implications?

Especially on mobiles, people install anything and everything, without really understand, or paying attention. Most might not even know what is an app, and might thing it's just extra features to enable / disable on their phone.