

Android App Secretly Forwards Text Messages - J3L2404
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/10/27/android-app-forwards-private-text-messages/?src=twr

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alanh
> _“We can’t build it for the iPhone because it wouldn’t make it past the App
> Store approval process,” Mr. Tanjeloff said._

The app is, by definition, spyware. It secretly, continuously forwards all SMS
messages to a third party, and “there is no visible icon or shortcut to access
it.”

It’s like an ad for iPhone.

~~~
johnrob
It may be spyware, but I'd still like the option of installing it if I want
to. Nobody every said freedom came without flaws.

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the-kenny
You could install it, Android allows software installation without the Market.
It should just not get distributed through the Market. It's Spyware.

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irons
_For those who want to avoid having their text messages tapped, Mr. Tanjeloff
suggested “keeping your phone close by, or make sure people trust you.”_

He really said that? Zoomed right past the event horizon of potential parody.

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jamesaguilar
Is it really that outrageous? Seems like pretty down-to-earth advice to me.

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irons
Bad enough if he'd said "make sure you trust the people who handle your
phone", but he went full-bore, saying "make sure people trust you." He's
preemptively blaming the victim — the person on whose phone his software runs.

The lede for the article softpedals the degree of scumbaggery involved with
the sale and use of this product. It's software for the domestic-abuser
demographic.

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gregable
I initially thought this was going to be some rogue app that looks like a
game, fart machine or something innocuous but behind the scenes sends your
text messages to the developer. That would definitely be unfortunate and is a
risk. Although if a fart machine app asks for access to your text messages and
that doesn't cause you alarm, that's a separate issue.

This is more of an issue of identity / authentication. The phone doesn't have
any way of knowing that the "you" which installs the app isn't the "you" that
is the primary user of the phone. The phone tries - it offers you a swipe code
lock, you can even install other locking systems.

Imagine if the app was not described as a marital eavesdropping tool but
rather as a way to help you keep a record of your text messages that you can
view via your account from your computer. It doesn't install an icon because
there is no on-phone UI and the icon would just clutter the apps menu, a
convenient feature to be sure. Same app, different story. The Google Voice app
has a very similar idea.

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maukdaddy
_This app is certainly controversial, but can be helpful to people in
relationships where this type of monitoring can be useful.”_

WTF does this say about our society? What an awful person.

~~~
jdc
It says that we have conflicting, emotionally-driven interests.

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the-kenny
It's just spyware. It should be forbidden.

If you think you need something like this in your relationship, your partner
deserves something better than you. If you think your partner betrays you,
talk to him/her.

~~~
kenjackson
Not just your life partner, but people could use it with their manager,
business partner, person you're interested in dating/stalking.

Given that text messaging is the dominant means of communication for many
people, it really becomes crucial that you don't let your phone out of your
sight.

~~~
J3L2404
I assume it is intended to be used to spy on your children.

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kenjackson
Now someone just needs to write an app that monitors for this app.

The malware/anti-malware wars have begun on Android!

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immad
Their is actually a virus scanning app that I installed just to see what it
did.

I like that is like the desktop and open enough to be abused. I prefer that to
approval process based systems.

~~~
kenjackson
So did you try installing this app and see if it says something like, "App
installed, but no shortcut/icon given... warning!"?

~~~
ni_nad
And what would happen if I tried to re-install Google's Sound Recorder app?
Would I get the same message?

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Sephr
Just because you _can_ commit wiretapping crimes with the application doesn't
mean that the app is illegal and should be removed. It's not illegal for
people to install this app on phones that they own, possibly for added
security in case someone steals the phone and uses it to send text messages,
or if you just want to log all of your text messages at one number.

It's like removing a torrent application just because you _can_ illegally
pirate music with it. I oppose Google's decision to remove the application
from the Android Market, as the application is appropriately labeled and does
exactly what it says. It is not malware or spyware.

~~~
irons
Who's asserting it's illegal? You seem to be setting up a straw man. Google
should remove it because its use is unethical, and its continued presence is
an indictment of the market's legitimacy.

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pkaler
It is illegal to wiretap someone else's phone. It is illegal to open someone
else's mail. It is most likely illegal to install this App on someone else's
phone.

~~~
flogic
Can we be prosecuting them now please?

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buster
The nice thing here is:

The app already was pulled from the market. The market works (pretty much like
wikipedia) through openness and a broad community to monitor it without heavy
censorship from one vendor.

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extension
There is a whole category of apps like this for the BlackBerry -- apps that
you deliberately install on a phone to spy on someone else who is using it. It
is categorically different from conventional spyware because it doesn't
misrepresent itself or do anything malicious to the user who installs it. If
users are infiltrating each other's phones and spying on each other, that's
between them. You may find it sleazy, but the developer isn't spying on
anyone.

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loganlinn
Hopefully your partner doesn't forward your emails.

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J3L2404
"8:13 p.m. | Updated Adding that the app was pulled from the Android Market."

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phlux
isnt that the same as cisco routers that secretly provide packet data to the
NSA? Are we surprised? What about the AT&T closet that provides physical
access to your backhaul?

What about the google fiber to the home project?

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cmelbye
But Android is open!

