U.S. Senator says government agencies are spying on iOS and Android users

U.S. Senator says government agencies are spying on iOS and Android users،

Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) believes that foreign government agencies are monitoring iOS and Android users and, as a result, Reuters (via AndroidAuthority), the senator wrote a letter to the Department of Justice (DOJ) asking the agency to allow surveillance information to be released via push notification. The senator said foreign governments use push notifications sent by apps to spy on smartphone users.

“I am writing to urge the Department of Justice (DOJ) to allow Apple and Google to notify their customers and the general public of smartphone app notification records requests,” Wyden's letter states. The senator claims the US government has blocked Apple and Google from publicly discussing surveillance by foreign governments.

A push notification is a notification sent to your phone from an app installed on the device. As Wyden explains, these notifications must go through a “digital post office” run by Apple and Google for iOS and Android respectively. In his missive to the DOJ, the senator writes: “Because Apple and Google provide push notification data, they may be secretly coerced by governments to hand over this information. »

Push notifications on iOS 17.1.2

Information that Senator Wyden fears Apple and Google will be forced to provide to foreign government agencies includes how individual smartphone users interact with certain apps, as well as the full text of a notification as well as unencrypted content. Wyden wants the DOJ to allow Apple and Google to be completely honest about the requests they receive from foreign governments for information from push notifications.

Senator Wyden wrote in his letter: “Apple and Google are in a unique position to facilitate government surveillance of how users use particular applications. The data these two companies receive includes metadata, detailing which app received a notification and when, as well as the phone and associated Apple or Google account that notification was intended to be sent to.

Apple and Google both appreciated Senator Wyden's letter and said push notification monitoring has been in place for some time. Apple went so far as to admit that the government would not allow the company to disclose that it was receiving requests for push notification data, but said it would begin sharing that information with users.

In a statement to Reuters, Apple said: “In this case, the federal government has prohibited us from sharing information. Now that this method has become public, we are updating our transparency reports to detail these types of requests. »

Google also admitted that monitoring push notifications is a “thing” and said it agreed with “Senator Wyden's commitment to keeping users informed about these requests.” Google Transparency Report already publishes government requests for push notification data.