NSA and GCHQ Target "Leaky" Phone Apps To Scoop User Data

[wraggster]

New leaked NSA documents shed a new light (http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jan/27/nsa-gchq-smartphone-app-angry-birds-personal-data) on the agency's assault (http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/28/world/spy-agencies-scour-phone-apps-for-personal-data.html?emc=edit_na_20140127&_r=0) on the data controls of smartphone apps. Using app data permissions (http://www.theverge.com/2012/2/14/2798008/ios-apps-and-the-address-book-what-you-need-to-know) as a jumping off point, the documents show agency staffers building huge quantities of data, including 'intercepting Google Maps queries made on smartphones, and using them to collect large volumes of location information.' One slide lists capabilities for 'hot mic' recording, high precision geotracking, and file retrieval which would reach any content stored locally on the phone, including text messages, emails and calendar entries. As the slide notes in a parenthetical aside, 'if it's on the phone, we can get it.'"

http://yro.slashdot.org/story/14/01/27/208228/nsa-and-gchq-target-leaky-phone-apps-to-scoop-user-data