Android study finds privacy and security risks related to in-app advertising Options

[feeder]

(IMG:http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2012/03/study3-19-1332182845.jpg)

Android has certainly taken heat for malware-related bits in the past. Now, a recent study by computer scientists at North Carolina State University reveals that over half of the 100,000 apps from the Android Market Google Play include so-called ad libraries, which are essentially handed out by Google or third-party devs to retrieve ads from servers and launch them on your phone. Of these, 297 were classified as "aggressive," as they're allowed to run code from a remote server. Furthermore, Dr. Jiang along with his squad of researchers found that more than 48,000 of the apps put to the test could track location via GPS, while other accessed info could range from call logs, contact numbers, to the apps list on your device. It's unclear if this also applies to Android slates, though this particular study conducted only included handsets.

Continue reading Android study finds privacy and security risks related to in-app advertising

Android study finds privacy and security risks related to in-app advertising originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 19 Mar 2012 15:53:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  NCSU News  | Email this | Comments

Read More...