BuzzFeed周一报道,流行的分析平台Sensor Tower拥有的许多VPN和广告阻止应用程序已经在使用其Android和iOS设备上的程序的数百万人中收集了数据。 BuzzFeed发现,涉及的软件包括免费和无限VPN,Luna VPN,移动数据,适用于Android设备的Adblock Focus,以及适用于iOS硬件的Adblock Focus和Luna VPN。这些应用程序一直在收集数据并将其提供给Sensor Tower的产品,而不会向用户透露。 BuzzFeed表示,在与苹果和谷歌联系后,他们将Adblock Focus从苹果的在线商店中删除,并将移动数据从Google Play商店中删除。 BuzzFeed解释说,在手机上安装Sensor Tower应用程序后,它会指示用户安装根证书,该证书可以访问通过手机传递的所有数据的软件。 BuzzFeed指出,访问根证书特权受到Google和Apple的限制,因为这会对用户造成安全风险。但是,Sensor Tower的应用程序通过在下载应用程序后让用户从外部网站安装根证书来绕过这些限制。 据Buzzfeed称,Sensor Tower表示,它仅收集匿名的使用情况和分析数据以集成到其产品中。开发人员,风险资本家,发行商和其他人员使用这些产品来跟踪应用的受欢迎程度,使用趋势和收入。
原文:A number of VPN and ad-blocking apps owned by Sensor Tower, a popular analytics platform, have been collecting data from millions of people using the programs on their Android and iOS devices, BuzzFeed reported Monday.
The software involved includes Free and Unlimited VPN, Luna VPN, Mobile Data, Adblock Focus for Android devices, and Adblock Focus and Luna VPN for iOS hardware, BuzzFeed found. The apps have been collecting data and feeding it to Sensor Tower's products without disclosure to users.
After it contacted Apple and Google about the apps, BuzzFeed said, Adblock Focus was removed from Apple's online store and Mobile Data was scotched from the Google Play store.
After a Sensor Tower app is installed on a phone, it instructs a user to install a root certificate, which is software that can access all data passing through a phone, BuzzFeed explained.
Accessing root certificate privileges is restricted by Google and Apple because it poses a security risk to users, BuzzFeed noted. However, Sensor Tower's apps bypass those restrictions by having users install the root certificate from an external website after an app is downloaded.
Sensor Tower said it only collected anonymized usage and analytics data for integration into its products, according to Buzzfeed. Those products are used by developers, venture capitalists, publishers and others to track the popularity, usage trends and revenue of apps.