Originally published by Peggy Keene.
Do You Read All Your App Notifications? They Could Be Warning of Unauthorized Data Access
As cell phones have become ubiquitous, many may not pay attention to app notifications on their phone, having turned them off or having become used to “clearing” all notifications without a second thought. Sometimes, however, those app notifications may warrant further review.
App Notifications of Camera Access Lead to Lawsuit
For example, Instagram users recently sued Instagram’s parent company, Facebook, alleging violations of privacy that stemmed from Instagram’s use of users’ cellphone cameras even when the application was not using the camera directly. When users sign up for Instagram’s services, the application asks for access to the cell phone’s camera, folders, and location services. This is not uncommon as most photograph-sharing services will ask for access to a cell phone’s user’s camera, folders, and location services in order to operate. Specifically, Instagram asks for such permissions in order to: allow the user to take photos within the application; save and upload photographs; and, in order to allow the user to tag the geographical location at which the photograph was taken. A lawsuit against Facebook was filed after users received app notifications about such access that wasn’t expressly authorized.
In response to the lawsuit, Facebook has stated that the app notification was actually a result of a programming bug that would trigger false notifications even when the iPhone camera was not actually being accessed. Named plaintiff, Brittany Conditi, a New Jersey Instagram user, disagrees, arguing that the app notification is properly notifying users of Instagram’s use of the camera, and as such, it makes sense that Facebook is actively using user’s phone cameras to spy on users in order to collect data on users that it would not normally have access to. As such, for a user to have noticed the alleged misuse, they must: be an Instagram user, have the application running in the background, allow the application to send notifications, and have allowed the application to have such access outside of direct use of the application. Moreover, in regard to this specific lawsuit, users must be also be using an iPhone.
App Notifications Could Provide Insight to Unauthorized Access that’s Been Difficult to Identify in the Past
Such claims over unauthorized use of cameras are not new. Since the introduction of web cameras in 1991, the hacking of cameras and their associated photo accounts have long been an issue of concern. Whether the hackers are hacking the actual camera, leading them to be able to spy on targets in real time, or whether the hackers are hacking the associated photo accounts, leading to unauthorized dissemination of private photographs and videos, the threat to users’ privacy is very real as has been evidenced by the constant “leaking” of celebrity photographs via iCloud hacks.
Regardless of the legal outcomes of the suits against Facebook, users would do well to utilize certain practices when using phone applications in order to exercise stronger control over their privacy. First, users should limit an application’s access to the phone and its user’s sensitive data to “only when application is in use.” Secondly, users should “allow” app notifications to be sent from each application when camera/location services are being used. Third, if the user does not care about geographically tagging their photos, they should deny access to location services from every application that does not rely on location services as the main objective for use (e.g., driving maps, food delivery services, etc.). Fourth, users should always review the privacy options of any application they are using in order to immediately “opt-out” of information sharing, tracking IDs, etc. And lastly, users should review the app notifications and alerts they get to be informed of what their apps are doing in the background.
Key Takeaways Facebook’s Latest Lawsuit Regarding Privacy Concerns
With the recent accusations that Facebook has been accessing its users’ cell phone cameras in order to spy on them for collecting consumer private data, consumers should pay attention to the app notifications on their phone because:
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they may alert a user to access granted to the application unintentionally;
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they may alert a user to a company’s potential for misuse of information; and
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they may reveal an application’s unsavory practices when it comes to harvesting data.
For more insights on Data Privacy, see our Technology & Data Law Overview and Industry Focused Legal Solutions pages.
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