US senator warns governments are spying on Apple and Google users via push notifications
Reading Time: 2 minutesU.S. Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) has warned in a letter to the Justice Department that unidentified governments are spying on Apple and Google phone users through their push notifications. The letter says his office received a tip last year that government agencies in foreign countries were ‘demanding’ push notification records from the tech giants.
Wyden notes that Apple and Google can be ‘secretly compelled by governments to hand over this information.’
‘Apple and Google should be permitted to be transparent about the legal demands they receive, particularly from foreign governments, just as the companies regularly notify users about other types of government demands for data,’ Wyden wrote in the letter.
‘These companies should be permitted to generally reveal whether they have been compelled to facilitate this surveillance practice, to publish aggregate statistics about the number of demands they receive, and unless temporarily gagged by a court, to notify specific customers about demands for their data.’
Wyden called on the Justice Department to repeal or modify ‘any policies that impede this transparency.’
The letter was first reported by Reuters.
The data from these push notifications gives Apple and Google information about which app received a notification and when, in addition to details about the phone and Apple or Google account associated with the notification. The letter explains that in certain instances, the companies may also receive encrypted content, which could include the actual text displayed in the notification.
Wyden’s letter does not specify which foreign governments have asked Apple and Google for push notification information.
Reuters reports, citing a source, that foreign and U.S. government agencies have asked both Apple and Google for metadata from push notifications, including information that ties pseudonymous app users to specific Apple or Google accounts.
Ref: techcrunch
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