Amazon Suspends Sales of Blu Android Phones Due To Privacy Concerns (cnet.com)

CNET reports: Amazon just put budget phone maker Blu in the penalty box. The online retailing giant told CNET that it was suspending sales of phones from Blu, known for making ultra-cheap Android handsets, due to a "potential security issue." The move comes after security firm Kryptowire demonstrated last week how software in Blu's phones collected data and sent it to servers in China without alerting people. Blu defended the software, created by a Chinese company called Shanghai Adups Technology, and denied any wrongdoing. A company spokeswoman said at the time it "has several policies in place which take customer privacy and security seriously." She added there had been no breaches. Blu said it was in a process of review to reinstate the phones at Amazon.

Comments

There are gradiations

[XXongo]

There are gradations in privacy. The fact that I'm ok with having some small portion of my data used by corporations whose services I utilize does not mean that I'm ok with massive violation of privacy without any notice at all by some other corporation.

What the Blu phone does is way over the line. They are not only secretly sending data to China, they have "a command-and-control channel that can execute code on a user’s phone as a system user."

This is not merely "spyware"-- this is actual spying, by a foreign power.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/researchers-find-phones-secretly-sending-data-china/