Thanks to the Bluetooth Low Energy BLE profile, they can connect to each other easily without draining your battery power. In other words, the same technologies we use to count our steps can also give away our locations to outside parties.
Samsung S336C by Total Wireless
Bluetooth Low Energy devices announce their presence, sending out signals so that other gadgets can pair with them. The researchers ratcheted up the range using a high-gain antennae, going from an open-air area of about meters to as far as roughly meters about half of a mile. Some stories are already starting to appear about organisations with concerns about wearable devices, for example the Chinese military.
By Friday, Amazon was selling the phones again.
Can You Trust Cheap Chinese Phones with Your Privacy?
The upshot is this: You should really think twice before buying an Android phone from an unfamiliar manufacturer. If a smartphone doesn't cost much, and doesn't make you watch ads, then you have to wonder how else the company makes money. That doesn't mean all cheap smartphones are dangerous.
But if you're considering buying a budget device, treat the process as if you were buying a used car. Research the model, the brand, and the seller's reputation.
See what kind of customer service each brand offers. Don't take anyone at their word — and don't trust that the customer reviews on every site are real. Ask yourself whether you'd be comfortable with it.
- Honor Instagram spy.
- Worried about marketers and others tracking you? Here's how to stop that.;
- spy on wife phone.
Those are just some of the stories we've written in the past few years after yet another Android handset's security was found to be wanting: " Chinese Android Phones May Have Built-In Backdoor. The common thread is that the phones are all classified as "Chinese," which is a little unfair.
How to prevent third parties from snooping on your phone
Almost all smartphones are manufactured in China, including phones designed and sold by Apple, Google and Samsung. And some Chinese brands, such as Xiaomi, OnePlus and Huawei, have good reputations, despite Xiaomi's inclusion in the stories above.
That problem has apparently been fixed. But have you heard of Leagoo? Most people have not. I wouldn't trust phones made by any of these companies — for all I know, they could be sending my personal information back to a server in China, or contain glaring security flaws that could let an attacker easily hijack the phone or add malware. We've reviewed a couple of its phones and liked them. But most of BLU's phones are actually rebadged versions of phones made by Gionee, which is one of the bigger Chinese device makers you've never heard of.
How To Find Hidden Spyware On Android Smartphones In
BLU argued against Amazon suspending sales of its devices earlier this week, which was done due to spyware concerns. It's debatable whether collecting and transmitting your phone's location data and device information — such as phone number, serial number, SIM card ID and other uniquely identifying information — constitutes spying.
After all, that's the same information that your cellular carrier collects as part of its business in order to keep your device running.