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Chinese Mobile Phone Cameras Are Not-So-Secretly Recording Users' Activities (globalvoices.org)

Posted by msmash on from the closer-look dept.

Oiwan Lam, reporting for Global Voices: It has been widely reported that software and web applications made in China are often built with a "backdoor" feature, allowing the manufacturer or the government to monitor and collect data from the user's device. But how exactly does the backdoor feature work? Recent discussion among mobile phone users in mainland China has shed some light on the question.

Last month, users of Vivo NEX, a Chinese Android phone, found that when they opened certain applications on the phone, including Chinese internet giant QQ browser and travel booking app Ctrip, the mobile device's camera would self-activate. [...] One Weibo user observed that the retractable camera self-activates whenever he opens a new chat on Telegram, a messaging application designed for secured and encrypted communication.

[...] After the news of the self-activated camera bug spread, users started testing the issue on other applications and found that Baidu's voice input application has access to both the camera and voice recording function, which can be launched without users' authorization. A Vivo NEX user found that once she had installed Baidu's voice input system, it would activate the phone's camera and sound recording function whenever the user opened any application -- including chat apps, browsers -- that allows the user to input text.

45 of 91 comments (clear)

  1. Orwell that ends well by lessthan0 · · Score: 1

    North Korea proved that an entire county can be subjugated in a 1984 fashion for long periods of time. China keeps moving that way instead of toward more openness and freedom. I would expect that to limit their economic growth at some point, but who knows. Freedom is not a given in the future of any country.

    1. Re:Orwell that ends well by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

      If China were the only one moving that way, it would possibly limit their economic growth. The problem is the entire WORLD seems to be moving that way, some at a faster rate than others. But it's not like I can honestly look at my United States and say we aren't doing the exact same thing, and whenever one of us plebes mention it in a public forum all that has to happen is somebody whines about how it's for our own protection and then it ceases to be an issue of importance.

    2. Re:Orwell that ends well by DontBeAMoran · · Score: 1

      North Korea, China, UK, USA.

      Who's next?

      --
      #DeleteFacebook
    3. Re:Orwell that ends well by PPH · · Score: 1

      Beware of leaders with funny hairstyles. Things have been going downhill here since Eisenhower.

      --
      Have gnu, will travel.
    4. Re:Orwell that ends well by Actually,+I+do+RTFA · · Score: 1

      I would expect that to limit their economic growth at some point

      I don't know why it would. I mean, "don't do your job well and the police will beat you for 30 minutes" is a pretty excellent motivator for their workers... or even the bosses.

      --
      Your ad here. Ask me how!
    5. Re:Orwell that ends well by tsa · · Score: 1

      In the Netherlands we also know how to keep an eye on our citizens. But we sem to be working to go in the opposite direction, luckily.

      --

      -- Cheers!

    6. Re: Orwell that ends well by DontBeAMoran · · Score: 1

      Yeah, you're right. But they're easy to forget, since it's such a small country all the way down there in the south hemisphere.

      --
      #DeleteFacebook
  2. Would the same be possible with Apple iOS? by sinij · · Score: 1, Interesting

    Would the same level of abuse be possible with Apple iOS, or is this intrinsic flaw in open-sourced Android where it is possible to modify OS functionality without it becoming obvious?

    1. Re:Would the same be possible with Apple iOS? by cascadingstylesheet · · Score: 1

      Would the same level of abuse be possible with Apple iOS, or is this intrinsic flaw in open-sourced Android where it is possible to modify OS functionality without it becoming obvious?

      The examples in the summary are apps.

      It's just that a voice input app will kick in whenever a keyboard is needed - oops.

    2. Re:Would the same be possible with Apple iOS? by carlhaagen · · Score: 3, Informative

      While the level of scrutiny and inspection procedures performed by Apple before publishing an iOS application is on a completely different level than that of Google and their Play Store, it's technically possible. But the case with these Chinese Android phones isn't really about this or that rogue app possibly showing up on the Play Store, but rather that they all come with a customized Android build prepared from start with a selection of malware/spyware. It's a complete ready-to-go, ready-to-spy package.

    3. Re:Would the same be possible with Apple iOS? by Solandri · · Score: 4, Informative
      Both iOS and Android already give the device owner control over what functions an app is able to access. For example, Android notified me that an update to one of the games on my tablet was asking for access to the microphone and camera. I of course denied those permissions (the game seems to run just fine without them). Since my tablet is rooted, I also get control over which apps are allowed to use the network. So even with the few programs which need such access (like a photo-to-PDF converter), I'm confident it isn't transmitting info about me back to the app maker.

      There are two reasons for the problem.
      • Certain apps need such permissions. The voice input app mentioned in the summary requires access to the microphone to function. The maker of the app can then abuse that permission to use the microphone to record conversations and transmit them back to the mothership. This is even more insidious with voice recognition apps, which have to record conversations and transmit them back for the recognition stage anyway. At that point the difference between legitimate and illegitimate use becomes whether the company keeps the recordings on file, or deletes them after the recognition is completed (which is why I've long advocated that voice recognition be moved to the device itself now that processors are getting to the point where that's feasible). It's impossible for OS-level restrictions to prevent this type of abuse.
      • China has encouraged forking Android and developing its own version for use in the Chinese market. Ostensibly this is to reduce the amount of control foreign companies (namely Google) have over products used within China. Most people however suspect that it's done so the Chinese government can insert its own monitoring software directly within the OS itself. The kind of stuff the NSA only dreams it could do. The maker of an open-source OS has no control over what happens to forks.
    4. Re:Would the same be possible with Apple iOS? by tlhIngan · · Score: 1

      Blockquote>

      Would the same level of abuse be possible with Apple iOS, or is this intrinsic flaw in open-sourced Android where it is possible to modify OS functionality without it becoming obvious?

      The examples in the summary are apps.

      It's just that a voice input app will kick in whenever a keyboard is needed - oops.

      Except iOS keyboard apps are restricted by default into only doing a few things, and must be functional in restricted mode. If a user wants, they may remove the restriction, allowing they keyboard access to things like network.

      However, secure input boxes like passwords pop up the default iOS keyboard to prevent exfiltration of passwords by keyboard apps.

  3. And that includes America. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Our phones spy on us. They send that data to everyone who is interested. It goes to google and apple, it goes to your carrier, it goes to whoever wrote any app at all that you installed on your phone, and it goes to the government. This is not paranoia. This has all been demonstrated.

    And dumbphones aren't off the hook. Your location data is sent back to your carrier at all times, and the government can remotely and covertly activate your mic and camera at any time to spy on you (presumably, with a warrant, of course).

    Your only way to prevent this is to remove the battery. So long as the phone has power, you must assume that it is spying on you.

    1. Re:And that includes America. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      What Orwell failed to predict is that we'd buy the cameras ourselves, and that our biggest fear would be that nobody was watching. -- Keith Lowell Jensen

    2. Re:And that includes America. by schnell · · Score: 1

      Our phones spy on us. They send that data to everyone who is interested. It goes to google and apple, it goes to your carrier, it goes to whoever wrote any app at all that you installed on your phone, and it goes to the government. This is not paranoia. This has all been demonstrated.

      It's really not that simple or that nefarious. Your data does not go to "everyone who is interested." At least in the US, it goes to potentially five groups of people depending on circumstances:

      • Your cellphone carrier: Otherwise your phone would not work. The cell network can locate you based on which tower(s) you can "see" and which sectors, within a resolution of several hundred meters. Additionally, Android (but not iOS) will let your carrier ask the phone for its GPS location. This was originally done per government mandate in order to know where to route your 9-1-1 calls, but can also be repurposed by your cell carrier for big data/ad purposes. But honestly that isn't where the cell carriers make their money so keeping tabs on your exact location isn't a high priority to them.
      • Your mobile OS vendor: *If* and *only if* you opt in to using their "free" services (in which you of course are the product; that's the trade-off). If you use Google Maps or Apple Maps or their ilk, Apple and/or Google are "fingerprinting" your location every few seconds via a combination of your GPS, altimeter, cell signal strength, nearby WiFi hotspots and nearby Bluetooth sources to know exactly where you are and remember it over time. *Selling this information (along with what you searched for and what somebody Gmailed your about, etc.) to advertisers indirectly via targeting is Google's core business model.* For Apple, they do sell that data but that is a sideline - they mainly just want to make your location services really good so you buy another iPhone instead of a Galaxy.
      • Your device OEM: Actually not so much in the US, unless you have an iPhone or Google Pixel (see above). Most name-brand device OEMs sold through carriers in the US don't have the size and sophistication to try to monetize location data and wouldn't know what to profitably use it for if they did. Buy a cheap shady phone at a flea market in Shenzhen? Absolutely.
      • Mobile app developers: Did you get an awesome app for free? Your "free" app means you are the product. Any "free" mobile app service you are using is almost certainly using the sale of advertising based on your location as its business model. But you signed up for that when you clicked the "sure, whatever" button on the EULA. Not to sound callous, but that's the price of "free."
      • The US government: The US government *does not know where you are via your cellphone* except in the following cases: 1.) you have dialed 9-1-1 in which case your call needs to be routed to the closest Public Safety Answering Point; 2.) a warrant has been issued by a court (open or secret/FISA) for your wireless carrier to record your conversations and location for the government; or 3.) with or without a warrant a government agency has gotten access to your phone/vehicle/whatever. People generally don't understand both how poor government IT is and how worthless the data of 99.97% of 300 million people's cellular location data is, even if they got it. "They" almost certainly aren't following you. Really.

      And dumbphones aren't off the hook. Your location data is sent back to your carrier at all times, and the government can remotely and covertly activate your mic and camera at any time to spy on you (presumably, with a warrant, of course).

      Yes, sort of kinda. See above - your carrier knows where you are at all times within a broad range to provide service, and in a small range when you call 9-1-1. Otherwise, not really. What the government does to your phone with or without a warrant if they have accessed it, I can't say.

      Your only way to prevent this is to

      --
      "95% of all Slashdot .sig quotes are incorrect or completely fabricated." -Benjamin Franklin
  4. This is the default situation... by carlhaagen · · Score: 5, Interesting

    ...with practically any cheap Chinese crapdroid phone/tablet, as well as Android TV boxes, aimed at the western markets - pretty much all of them run customized (often half-assed) Android builds bundled with various sets of malware/spyware. This even goes for the somewhat larger brands that have an office presence on the European continent trying to profile themselves in the west with TV/magazine/sports advertisements, like f.e. Doogee and Oukitel.

    Over the past 5-6 years I've purchased close to two dozen Chines phones/tablets (as development toys) in both the low and mid price tiers, and I've yet to find a single one that actually comes with a clean and honest Android build. Spending time on the various Android phone/tablet hacking forums on the Internet you'll find droves of new reports about this every month, and all popular Chinese brands are mentioned.

    1. Re:This is the default situation... by OYAHHH · · Score: 1

      Android, the OS itself, it one huge piece of spyware. Don't limit it to just Chinese produced items.

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      Caution: Contents under pressure
    2. Re:This is the default situation... by drinkypoo · · Score: 2

      Fixed that for you. Phone/tablet makers choose Android so they can lock down (to prevent competitors from cloning!) their product and install spyware. I don't see why "Chinese" needs thrown in except for clickbait.

      Because the American makers do not do this, nor do the Japanese ones. Carriers do, but the makers of the phones themselves don't. That's why you can buy e.g. a Motorola phone and then unlock it with help from their website, and load AOSP if you like.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    3. Re:This is the default situation... by schnell · · Score: 2

      I don't see why "Chinese" needs thrown in except for clickbait.

      Because the American makers do not do this, nor do the Japanese ones ... That's why you can buy e.g. a Motorola phone and then unlock it with help from their website, and load AOSP if you like.

      Uh-oh. You may want to check on the nationality of Motorola's ownership. Hint: not in Schaumburg, Illinois anymore.

      --
      "95% of all Slashdot .sig quotes are incorrect or completely fabricated." -Benjamin Franklin
    4. Re:This is the default situation... by drinkypoo · · Score: 2

      Because the American makers do not do this, nor do the Japanese ones ... That's why you can buy e.g. a Motorola phone and then unlock it with help from their website, and load AOSP if you like.

      Uh-oh. You may want to check on the nationality of Motorola's ownership. Hint: not in Schaumburg, Illinois anymore.

      Yeah, I remembered that just after hitting submit. However, I bought my Moto G before they sold out, and it's not running their software anyway. And AFAIK, you can still unlock the bootloader.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  5. Wasn't this expected? by EndlessNameless · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Baidu's voice input system... would activate... whenever the user opened any application... that allows the user to input text

    So, looking at the technical underpinning, it functions like the native keyboard app, which loads on demand for applications which support its input.

    I can't reach the article, so here is the real question: Is there evidence of nefarious activity, particularly the suspicious caching or transmission of data?

    Because a camera/mic activating on its own isn't necessarily doing much of anything. It certainly merits investigation, but the headline is not justified by the content of the summary.

    After all, if it's "not-so-secretly" doing bad things, there should be plentiful, clear evidence of bad things happening. If there are hours of audio/video being recorded or transmitted by some phone, why not mention that?

    --

    ---
    According to the latest ruleset, this post should be modded as Vorpal Flamebait +5.
    1. Re:Wasn't this expected? by sabbede · · Score: 1
      Well, that's better worded than what I was probably going to say, so thank you.

      It does seem like it's just the voice input kicking in when you're likely to want it, not a nefarious plot. Besides, the Party probably has better bits of spyware on there already.

  6. whoa oh by bobmagicii · · Score: 1

    black mirror, whoa-ah-oh.

  7. Black PVC tape by gweihir · · Score: 2

    The only way to deal with cameras that do not have a hard-wired activation light.

    --
    Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
    1. Re:Black PVC tape by TheDarkener · · Score: 1

      I do this on my current phone, but am always still worried about the microphone. You can't easily muffle a microphone from all sound.

      --
      It is pitch black. You are likely to be eaten by a grue.
    2. Re:Black PVC tape by JaredOfEuropa · · Score: 2

      Maybe that's how they found out: the phone mentioned in TFA has an all-screen front, with the front facing camera sliding out of the top of the phone when needed. The thing popped up when people opened Telegram, for instance.

      --
      If construction was anything like programming, an incorrectly fitted lock would bring down the entire building...
    3. Re:Black PVC tape by gweihir · · Score: 1

      Ah, yes. And you cannot rip it out either (as I did with my Amazon tablet as their voice assistant cannot be removed), because then it does not work as a phone anymore. I think there is no good solution for microphones at the moment. Hopefully somebody will find one soon.

      --
      Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
    4. Re:Black PVC tape by gweihir · · Score: 1

      I was thinking the same thing.

      --
      Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
    5. Re:Black PVC tape by antdude · · Score: 1

      What about microphones?

      --
      Ant(Dude) @ Quality Foraged Links (AQFL.net) & The Ant Farm (antfarm.ma.cx / antfarm.home.dhs.org).
  8. Re:Why complain about Telegram? by gweihir · · Score: 1

    Because this is very likely not Telegram doing it?

    --
    Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
  9. Support Purism products by TheDarkener · · Score: 2

    Purism products offer hardware kill-switches for camera, mic and multiple radios (bluetooth/wifi/...). They are vigilant in defending against shit like what is happening these days, likely not only in China.

    From Wikipedia ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... ):

    "Librem is a line of computers manufactured by Purism, SPC featuring free (libre) hardware and software.[1][2][3][4][5][6] The laptop line is designed to protect privacy and freedom by providing no non-free (proprietary) software in the operating system or kernel,[7][8][9][10] avoiding the Intel Active Management Technology,[11] and gradually freeing and securing firmware.[12][13] Librem laptops feature hardware kill switches[14][15][16] for the microphone, webcam, Bluetooth, & Wi-Fi, and can be purchased air gapped."

    If you support these companies the security and privacy bar for all manufacturers will raise.

    --
    It is pitch black. You are likely to be eaten by a grue.
  10. Not limited to China by OYAHHH · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Google,

    On it's Android platform is scanning every single url your phone is accessing and feeding those URLs into it's spider.

    How do I know? I am developing an Android app which has NEVER been released, thus the website URLs used are supposed to be 100% private. Google's spider has been scanning every single one of my private website urls as accessed by my private Android app.

    So, this crap is not limited to China.

    --
    Caution: Contents under pressure
    1. Re:Not limited to China by Kongming · · Score: 1

      Interesting. The only arguably legitimate reason that I can think of would be if the Android web client API has some kind of anti-malicious-website functionality built-in, for which Google automatically checks for hostile or compromised websites. In any case, I have a couple of other tests that could prove illuminating, if you are interested in doing them:

      1. If you access a new URL in your website from the same Internet connection but another device, does Google's spider scan it? If not, that would help to rule out factors other than Android, such as a link between you and the website, or possibly at the end of your website's hosting provider.

      2. If you use SSL to access a new URL in your website, does Google still scan the full URL instead of just the hostname? (I would expect and certainly hope not.)

      --
      (no sig)
  11. WireShark for phones by DCFusor · · Score: 1

    Until there is a version of wireshark that works on the phone bands (wireless-shark) - more or less a stingray that can be had by consumers, this is going to:
    A: happen and only get worse.
    B: be denied and essentially not proveable.
    This all depends on what amounts to a technical arms race the consumer has lost.

    --
    Why guess when you can know? Measure!
    1. Re:WireShark for phones by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      Until there is a version of wireshark that works on the phone bands (wireless-shark) - more or less a stingray that can be had by consumers,

      Not more or less, it literally has to be that way... because the radio module code is closed-source by law to prevent tampering, and you can never trust that part of your phone.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    2. Re:WireShark for phones by DCFusor · · Score: 1

      Well, whip or chop does seem the right thing for a device that can talk to the internet without you having a way of knowing who it's talking to about what. Of course, some is lazy lusers - a lot of phone-home controversy could have been trivially settled one way or the other with plain old wireshark for machines that were wire or wifi only (if you had access to the wired side of wifi which most of us at home do).
      //
      One wonders why even the companies so accused didn't provide set up info to look at their output themselves..no one would trust that, but it'd get the ball rolling.
      //
      The reason I said more or less is I've not studied the protocol to the level of knowing how much you'd have to "go active" and transmit a signal/pretend to be a tower, or whether you could just easily eavesdrop, use the standard keycracking things on the strongest signal (since you could put the device in your own cradle and be a fraction of an inch from the antenna - at that point just go with the loudest signal). After all, with wifi and enough plaintext, no problem getting into the system and listening in. If you own it, you can put out all the "plain text" you want.. A whole lot of the classic attacks are suddenly easier if it's your device.
      Just a product suggestion. Whoever gets rich can thank me, and the phone guys can go and do unpleasant things with themselves.

      --
      Why guess when you can know? Measure!
  12. At least they are upfront about it by shadesofgreen · · Score: 1

    So the Chinese Govt and Intelligence has gone Full Big-Brother in creating a surveillance state, what's missing is an official statement that if you use electronic devices in China then you will be tracked. In contrast, US Intelligence has taken half measures by creating/finding backdoors of their own. Which of these approaches is worse?

    1. Re:At least they are upfront about it by geekmux · · Score: 1

      So the Chinese Govt and Intelligence has gone Full Big-Brother in creating a surveillance state, what's missing is an official statement that if you use electronic devices in China then you will be tracked. In contrast, US Intelligence has taken half measures by creating/finding backdoors of their own. Which of these approaches is worse?

      If an organization hides their power, they often do so because they know someone could take it away from them, particularly when that activity is legally questionable.

      When an organization is arrogant enough to essentially broadcast their power and rub it in your fucking face, they do so because they know there's not a damn thing you or anyone else can do about it.

      Both approaches are bad, but China has gone from bad to worse.

  13. So it's a bug and a feature by schwit1 · · Score: 1

    It's a snooping bug, not a software bug. The system is working exactly as designed to let apps be voyeurs.

  14. I love how you think you're immune by WillAffleckUW · · Score: 1

    But, hey, it's not just China.

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    -- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
  15. This is China by nospam007 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    It's not a backdoor, it's a frontdoor.

  16. Re: ITS COMING HOME by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    It's going to have a holiday in France or Croatia for a few years while it thinks about coming home.

  17. Popup-blocker by Mats+Svensson · · Score: 1

    Suddenly motorized pop-up cameras on phones doesn't sound so stupid at all.

    Next I propose we give some app-developers the SAW-treatment with the phone and a gun mounted on a helmet, and the camera pushing the trigger if comes up.

  18. the hysterical crazies are out in force today by CaffeinatedBacon · · Score: 1
    Jesus the hysterical crazies are out in force today.

    . A Vivo NEX user found that once she had installed Baidu's voice input system, it would activate the phone's camera and sound recording function whenever the user opened any application -- including chat apps, browsers -- that allows the user to input text.

    How the fuck did she think voice input would work if it didn't use the microphone?

  19. Soviet joke? by ebvwfbw · · Score: 1

    In soviet China the phone watches you!