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Over 200 Android Apps Are Currently Using Ultrasonic Beacons To Track Users (bleepingcomputer.com)

Posted by msmash on from the privacy-woes dept.

Catalin Cimpanu, writing for BleepingComputer: A team of researchers from the Brunswick Technical University in Germany has discovered an alarming number of Android apps (234, to be exact) that employ ultrasonic tracking beacons to track users and their nearby environment. Their research paper focused on the technology of ultrasound cross-device tracking (uXDT) that became very popular in the last three years. uXDT is the practice of advertisers hiding ultrasounds in their ads. When the ad plays on a TV or radio, or some ad code runs on a mobile or computer, it emits ultrasounds that are picked up by the microphone of nearby laptops, desktops, tablets or smartphones. SDKs embedded in apps installed on those devices relay the beacon back to the online advertiser, who then knows that the user of TV "x" is also the owner of smartphone "Y" and links their two previous advertising profiles together, creating a broader picture of the user's interests, device portfolio, home, and even family members.

4 of 192 comments (clear)

  1. Captain Obvious here... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    But is there a list of these know apps?

  2. Which Apps??? by Rob+Riggs · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Completely useless, alarmist, unactionable article. Name names, dammit.

    --
    the growth in cynicism and rebellion has not been without cause
    1. Re:Which Apps??? by Archangel+Michael · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Trying to avoid a "lawsuit" by not naming them. I'm all for Name n Shame, but the lawyers will sue when the vendor's stupid app was named and they claim it didn't (even when it did) and they lost "Millions in revenue" (previous 8 months they did $50).

      Sad world we live in, where the lawyers fuck everything up protecting the guilty.

      --
      Agent K: A *person* is smart. People are dumb, stupid, panicky animals, and you know it.
  3. Re:Oy, how to block this? by FatdogHaiku · · Score: 4, Insightful

    See OnePlus 3(t) slider, which is three position for alerts, but similar to what you are asking for. As in "Doable".

    What I would like is a programmable slider, one that I could make it disable mic or camera.

    But if it's done in software it can be undone in software. I don't know any code that can bridge a physical gap in a circuit... a micro reed switch and a magnet on a flip phone or a slide on a smart phone... but it HAS to break the circuit(s) in question. Maybe a switch with micro jumpers to configure paths...

    --
    You have the right to remain sentient. If you give up the right to remain sentient, you will be elected to public office