Phone manufactures might have information about your crypto apps

[Fiatless]

A security firm, NowSecure, discovered that nearly half of Africa’s smartphones are sending hidden user data to China-linked servers. Almost all the smartphones produced by Transsion Holdings contain an embedded telemetry system capable of collecting sensitive information, which includes users’ GPS location, app usage, mobile  data consumption, and camera activation events

It means that popular phone brands like Tecno, Infinix, and itel transmit users' data to servers operated by Shalltry, a China-based software company. A typical example is the Tecno Spark 40 smartphone, which transmits GPS coordinates, nearby mobile network tower information, app usage patterns, daily mobile data consumption, and notifications whenever an application activates the camera. These phone makers strategically embedded these permanent device identifiers, which cannot be reset and stay with the phone throughout its lifetime. 

Some security analysts have claimed that some of the telemetry may have been designed for good reasons, like fraud prevention and device authentication. But this should be a concern to crypto users since they use apps that are used for financial transactions.

The good news is that the research does not allege that data on passwords, messages, photographs, or financial transactions were collected. However, the government, especially the Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC), should ensure that personal data of Nigerians is lawfully collected based on local laws and international standards. Any phone maker found violating the Nigeria Data Protection Act (NDPA) 2023 should be sanctioned accordingly.


https://businessday.ng/technology/article/nearly-half-of-africas-smartphones-found-sending-hidden-user-data-to-china-linked-servers-report-says/

[DPHOR]

This is the first time I am hearing this because through out my usage of mobile phone I have seen where someone information or even private information such as cryptocurrency seedphrase or whatever has been collected. However, I won't argue because anything is possible as long as things doesn't remain permanent then I must believe such is possible and likely to happen because the rate at which people are inquisitive of stealing cryptocurrency information from their devices is not something new anymore. Of course, for NDPC to be sure that most of the smartphone that are being shipped and sold to Nigerians are not indirectly stealing peoples information is to be checked by their agency to verify if such features are not activated before shipping.

[Churchillvv]

This is more like what I have been suspecting ever since because there is no way china does not have an additional advantage to produces almost all phones and hence data collection terms which I have read in some phones especially android phones states something similar not directly but similar that data of some kind has always been sent to the production company.

[Amphenomenon]

This is the first time I am hearing this because through out my usage of mobile phone I have seen where someone information or even private information such as cryptocurrency seedphrase or whatever has been collected. However, I won't argue because anything is possible as long as things doesn't remain permanent then I must believe such is possible and likely to happen because the rate at which people are inquisitive of stealing cryptocurrency information from their devices is not something new anymore. Of course, for NDPC to be sure that most of the smartphone that are being shipped and sold to Nigerians are not indirectly stealing peoples information is to be checked by their agency to verify if such features are not activated before shipping.

The mobile phones we used oftentimes and pur service providers are not secure, data must be collected sadly either for marketing or any other reasons they might coin it as.

While seedphrase are not be the type of data collected,  these data collected can also endanger the users in various ways falling into the wrong hands and still there are ways this might also affect their coins even if it's not through the seedphrase (these are indirectly).

[Rockson1]

I might be getting to know this for the first time, but I know that there is no way china won't have a hidden plan for doing this, but how does this make any sense, is this not spying on those that are making use of the product you sold to them, there is nothing anyone will tell me for me for me to believe that the data collection by this Chinese company is not for a purpose, of course they will say that it is not for a bad reason which I do not believe that they are saying the truth, china is always 100times ahead of events, how safe is our wallets if this is true? Because if data can be collected through this means, it means nothing is hidden in must of the smart phones that we make use of.

[BluebloodCXVI]

I don’t think they have access to sensitive informations though.

Things like your passwords, seed phrases or your private messages are protected by encryption and application sandboxing so they are generally not accessible through normal means.

Yes they can collect meta-data’s like device information, application usage, location, network details and other telemetry from time to time but the reason why they do this is to be able to use that information to improve their software, security and sometimes personalization. And this is a common practice in the phone manufacturing industry; i’m shocked that most people don’t know about this.

Now i personally don’t know of any phone manufacturing company that spies on their user’s privacy and classified information with malicious intent but i’m sure that most of the reputable companies would not want to risk doing something like that because i believe they don’t have any incentive to do it and the risks involved are great if they get caught.

[Hypnotizer]

I don’t think they have access to sensitive informations though.

They might not have access to many sensitive informations but they might be  “capable” of getting them through the embedded telemetry system. That’s the concern

Things like your passwords, seed phrases or your private messages are protected by encryption and application sandboxing so they are generally not accessible through normal means.

Yes they can collect meta-data’s like device information, application usage, location, network details and other telemetry from time to time but the reason why they do this is to be able to use that information to improve their software, security and sometimes personalization. And this is a common practice in the phone manufacturing industry; i’m shocked that most people don’t know about this.

Those sensitive informations like the passwords as you mentioned might be above what they can access, some people are concerned about their privacy a lot and they wouldn’t want if the manufacturer can access some of their usage informations and for those reasons they would want their phone embedded with such chips or systems.

Talking about people not knowing about this, I consider it the fault of these manufacturers.. they should as well inform their customers and users about it.  The consumers have the right to know if such systems exist in their devices.

[Mate2237]

This is one of the worst news that I have read in a long time. If this is actually true then no body is safe in the African continent including our government because every thing that we are doing is been monitored by China and other foreign firms which may have interest in with such information. This again once again show how we have become as a person, this only mean one thing and that is government has failed across all board in the continent if we can get to the point were we have no privacy as a people. What has the governments of various African countries done about this news ever since it made the head lines this only shows how unserious we are as a people. Because if this was to be in European settings it calls for protest across all the continent.


This is a timely reminder and call for African government to look inward and start industrialization, we can't be depending on other races for our daily to day needs . We are where we are as a result of lack of industrialization we need to start the production and manufacturing of chips and even the hardware components that is needed to producing phones. After all the minerals that is needed in producing these chips and hardware components are found in Africa.

[Cryptomultiplier]

I also came across this news online and was a bit alarmed but not surprised because this is not the first time we have learnt of such.
Google was also sanctioned at a time for breaching users data and search information for whatever reasons even after non disclosure policies they stand on and it just goes to show how any user could be targeted and their information sold on the black market or used to track them down in real life.

We just have to be security conscious always both in our choices of device we use and in the kinds of applications and agreement we agree to when we use most of these apps we download or that comes embedded in our devices.

[Cleanshit]

I don’t think they have access to sensitive informations though.

Things like your passwords, seed phrases or your private messages are protected by encryption and application sandboxing so they are generally not accessible through normal means.

Yes they can collect meta-data’s like device information, application usage, location, network details and other telemetry from time to time but the reason why they do this is to be able to use that information to improve their software, security and sometimes personalization. And this is a common practice in the phone manufacturing industry; i’m shocked that most people don’t know about this.

Now i personally don’t know of any phone manufacturing company that spies on their user’s privacy and classified information with malicious intent but i’m sure that most of the reputable companies would not want to risk doing something like that because i believe they don’t have any incentive to do it and the risks involved are great if they get caught.

Yes modern mobile operating system have make things hard for manufacturers to directly access stuffs like seed phrases or passwords. But me I do see that the main concern is the amount of metadata they can receive. Having to  know how you operate ur crypto apps, like knowing how often you open it, locations and so on, may not really expose one's wallet, but would create a privacy risk when data are being stored insecurely.

As a crypto user you should do well and avoid a single layer of security, make sure ur wallet is updated always, phobe pass keys should be strong, wallet encryption if available and not to forget don’t forget once store your seed phrase online but offline abd well secured. Privacy wallets strong security

[Odogwu-Blockchain]

I know these phone manufacturers be getting sensitive information from us, especially information that concerns our energy that's needed for them to be more creative into developing something more outrageous. I may be overthinking but that's true. Many industries are behind these software that collect data, where they'll process the data in a lab and then integrate off our energy, the pigment off our fingers are collected, the flash of camera on our face and body are collected and many others too which we don't know yet.

All these are energies that they need to study and then utilize it to manipulate more useful results. There was a doctor that said, for you to be successful in life, you must know how to manipulate energies. I think that's what these industries are doing. I may be overthinking though, but just my opinion.

Since our cryptos are not collected, then something meaningful is collected.

[Decimetre]

I have had a random thought on this particular concern in my early days when I began using the Android device, when I started keeping some private life which prompted me to think, what if my private life is not actually private? This is the globe we live in and you can't be too careful about things that have gone beyond your power. There would be a lot of things still unknown that most of these companies are stealing from us. I doubt there's data and information safely anywhere because even our Telecom industries took also sell off our information so there's no hiding place. Just like Odogwu-Blockchain said, since they've not started stealing our coins, then they will be stealing something higher. Since the coming of technology the right to complete privacy has greatly diminished so we only get used to it and that's the best we can do while also checking the extent of damage they cause.

[Doan9269]

A security firm, NowSecure, discovered that nearly half of Africa’s smartphones are sending hidden user data to China-linked servers. Almost all the smartphones produced by Transsion Holdings contain an embedded telemetry system capable of collecting sensitive information, which includes users’ GPS location, app usage, mobile  data consumption, and camera activation events

We have to be very careful of the kind of vendors we use in the purchase of our mobile devices, this is why I often recommend to go directly to the official company platform or office to secure any mobile device you wanted to buy, they have their agents that fully represent them in some of their physical office location, we should not buy devices from random Street hawkers, or any unlicensed vendor.

Another safety measure with most take in consideration is to avoid buying a third party device or a second hand used mobile phones, we don't know what might have been installed on then to be used in tracking us, many incidence of scam or hacked related attacks come through unsuspecting routes like this and this is why we must be able to get the intended devices from the right source for a particular brand we want to purchase.

[Coyster]

This is part of the reason why phones are not such a great idea for hodling a large amount of your funds, even if you try to make it airgapped. By design, phones are always connected to the network, constantly sending and receiving data between the nearest base station, without your knowledge. So, it is hard to tell what data your device is currently transmitting, and as such impossible to make it truly airgapped.

And then there is the problem of manufacturers spying on you, because of what they injected into these devices at production. I don't think they would have access to sensitive security details about their customers, but it is a privacy risk, and is unacceptable.

[SDS11]

A security firm, NowSecure, discovered that nearly half of Africa’s smartphones are sending hidden user data to China-linked servers. Almost all the smartphones produced by Transsion Holdings contain an embedded telemetry system capable of collecting sensitive information, which includes users’ GPS location, app usage, mobile  data consumption, and camera activation events

It means that popular phone brands like Tecno, Infinix, and itel transmit users' data to servers operated by Shalltry, a China-based software company. A typical example is the Tecno Spark 40 smartphone, which transmits GPS coordinates, nearby mobile network tower information, app usage patterns, daily mobile data consumption, and notifications whenever an application activates the camera. These phone makers strategically embedded these permanent device identifiers, which cannot be reset and stay with the phone throughout its lifetime. 

Some security analysts have claimed that some of the telemetry may have been designed for good reasons, like fraud prevention and device authentication. But this should be a concern to crypto users since they use apps that are used for financial transactions.

The good news is that the research does not allege that data on passwords, messages, photographs, or financial transactions were collected. However, the government, especially the Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC), should ensure that personal data of Nigerians is lawfully collected based on local laws and international standards. Any phone maker found violating the Nigeria Data Protection Act (NDPA) 2023 should be sanctioned accordingly.


https://businessday.ng/technology/article/nearly-half-of-africas-smartphones-found-sending-hidden-user-data-to-china-linked-servers-report-says/

This NowSecure report is a big deal, especially for us here in Nigeria where techno, infinix, ans it are basically the default phones for most people. So it’s not like they’re stealing your bank details but it IS they’re tracking where you go, what apps you use, and when your camera turns on 24/7. For traders, that metadata can be used for profiling, targeted or even by government. And most users never consented. If transsion/shalltry violated that, they should be investigated and sanctioned. This isn’t proof of china spying, but it IS proof of massive data collection without transparency, for financial apps, that’s enough to be concerned.

[EarnOnVictor]

I've been concerned about this for years, and it is terrifying considering how Transsion dominates the African budget smartphone market, especially in Nigeria where worst could be happening underneath while our government are busy stealing money. They've never stood up to responsibilities.

Even if they aren't stealing passwords; tracking IDs and camera activations is a massive privacy violation. And indeed, recently, I noticed that my phone brings a tiny right-sidebar camera-looking green icon during any activities. Though I investigated, and it was concluded that it wasn't an issue, yet I'm concerned about this. The NDPC absolutely needs to step up their responsibility and enforce the 2023 Data Protection Act to fight this. The thought that they are even using my data to receive their info for free is even driving me crazy.

[Fiatless]

I don’t think they have access to sensitive informations though.

Things like your passwords, seed phrases or your private messages are protected by encryption and application sandboxing so they are generally not accessible through normal means.

Yes they can collect meta-data’s like device information, application usage, location, network details and other telemetry from time to time but the reason why they do this is to be able to use that information to improve their software, security and sometimes personalization. And this is a common practice in the phone manufacturing industry; i’m shocked that most people don’t know about this.

Now i personally don’t know of any phone manufacturing company that spies on their user’s privacy and classified information with malicious intent but i’m sure that most of the reputable companies would not want to risk doing something like that because i believe they don’t have any incentive to do it and the risks involved are great if they get caught.

The manufacturer of a gadget can include any component which could be used to access any information in the device. The report claims that these phone makers don't have access to sensitive information like passwords and seed phrases. But this doesn't mean that they cannot have access to it.

The problem we have in Africa is weak regulation and corruption. Regulators like the Standard Organisation of Nigeria, Customs, and others can be easily bribed. Some of them lack the expertise to investigate these devices to ascertain how safe they are.

This is a timely reminder and call for African government to look inward and start industrialization, we can't be depending on other races for our daily to day needs . We are where we are as a result of lack of industrialization we need to start the production and manufacturing of chips and even the hardware components that is needed to producing phones. After all the minerals that is needed in producing these chips and hardware components are found in Africa.

This is the main solution. Africans need to develop technology and produce widely used devices. If they don't, these multinationals would keep using the continent as a source of free data collection.

[adultcrypto]

This is a serious reveal because these phones are popular in Nigeria with many people using them. Can a revelation like this substantiate legal action against these companies? Because what they are doing is unethical and if they are not sued, they will not stop. I just imagine how much of user data they would have harvested by now already and if they can access sensitive information on the phone, they it means even crypto apps are not safe to be stored on the phone.

[Agbe]

Dis one na serious matter ooh. Indirectly our cryptocurrency wallet in the mobile devices e no dey save oh. Well you talk say na only di GPS/location information dem dey collect and not the password and other important information. Dat one no too bad so dem go use am track terrorists their location. Di best way to secure our cryptocurrencies na hardware wallet so dat person no go use all those phones and laptops to keep funds.

[SatoPrincess]

I no dey shocked by the news because I know my phone dey listen to my conversations because they have been too many times I don talk about something then my phone apps start showing me that product. The good news be say them no go fit see your seed phrase as long as you no store them online or for your device. Without that, them no go fit hack your wallets even if them know say crypto apps dey your phone. On the other hand, this research show say these tech companies their main goal na to dey trade user data to other companies.