12/07/2023

Senator Warns Governments are Spying on Smartphone Users Through Push Notifications

The claim was made by Senator Ron Wyden

Unidentified governments are surveilling smartphone users via their apps' push notifications, a U.S. senator warned on Wednesday.

In a letter to the Department of Justice, Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) said foreign officials were demanding the data from Alphabet's and Apple. Although details were sparse, the letter lays out yet another path by which governments can track smartphones.

Apps of all kinds rely on push notifications to alert smartphone users to incoming messages, breaking news, and other updates. These are the audible "dings" or visual indicators users get when they receive an email or their sports team wins a game. What users often do not realize is that almost all such notifications travel over Google and Apple's servers.

Please select this link to read the complete article from Reuters.