79.2 Apple and Google Data Collection

20210410

The Security Now podcast of 6 April 2021 reports on a paper by Douglas Leith on Mobile Handset Privacy. Every 4 minutes or so the operating system on you smart device (iOS or Android) sends telemetry back to Apple or Google. This includes the phone IMEI, hardware serial number, SIM serial number and IMSI, and the handset phone number.

For Apple the information also includes your location and IP address, and all the nearby Wifi MAC addresses. A MAC address is a unique identifier for your smart device. Apple and Google are able to link this device information to you personally through the other apps you are running on the device, including the Play Store.

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