Know how the Android apps are taking undue advantage

Google has spent years on restricting Android Apps from not tracking your details. However, the apps developers are constantly finding new ways to track your whereabouts.

According to the report presented by the Federal Trade Commission at PrivacyCon apps are trying new ways of tracking you. They are snooping through loose internet connection, device and several codes.

It is through the API the apps interact with the Android platform, giving access to the operating system for managing the app. Although the Android APIs are safeguarded because of the permission system but the file system is not protected with any such permission. According to the director of Usable Security and Privacy Group at the University of California, Serge Egelman, there are apps which are not given permission for accessing data still they are found hiding in different parts of the file system.

The most common route they follow is targeting the MAC address of the Wi-Fi network. Various apps that are built on any third party Libraries like OpenX programming kit can read MAC address using cache directory. Whenever the access through Android API is denied the apps have a tendency of dragging it from the file system.

Every phone has a unique identification number known as IMEI alias International Mobile Equipment Identity. Sometimes the app’s developer seeks permission using their code to read the users phone IMEI. Once they get the permission they access the file through phone’s SD card.

When the permission is denied, the developers follow several trickeries to get access to your phone’s memory book. Anyhow, being a user you don’t have much to do. All you can do is maintain distance from any kind of trouble.