Phones

If your cell phone is an Android-type, this article ought to alert you to possible problems ahead. The transmitted data is more than just texts, though. It also sends your whole phone and email contact lists, images (?), your locations, and what internet sites you’ve visited. Sounds like prime potential blackmail material to me. Sure they updated to delete it, but how does one check? One doesn’t because one can't. Ron P.  If the link isn't live, copy and paste it in a browser.  RGP

Secret Backdoor in Some U.S. Phones Sent Data to China, Analysts Say

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/secret-backdoor-in-some-us-phones-sent-data-to-china-analysts-say/ar-AAkjZTU?li=BBnbcA1&ocid=HPCDHP

Excerpt: For about $50, you can get a smartphone with a high-definition display, fast data service and, according to security contractors, a secret feature: a backdoor that sends all your text messages to China every 72 hours.  Security contractors recently discovered preinstalled software in some Android phones that monitors where users go, whom they talk to and what they write in text messages. The American authorities say it is not clear whether this represents secretive data mining for advertising purposes or a Chinese government effort to collect intelligence.  International customers and users of disposable or prepaid phones are the people most affected by the software. But the scope is unclear. The Chinese company that wrote the software, Shanghai Adups Technology Company, says its code runs on more than 700 million phones, cars and other smart devices. One American phone manufacturer, BLU Products, said that 120,000 of its phones had been affected and that it had updated the software to eliminate the feature.