Chinese Mobile Ads are Stealing Your Location, Phone Number, and Contacts
Chinese smartphone users agree: mobile ads are annoying. But did you know there’s also a decent chance those same ads are recording your every move, and maybe even selling your address book to whoever wants to pay for it? China’s official television network, CCTV, recently conducted an undercover investigation of mobile advertising in China, sending reporters posing as clients to mobile ad agencies to ask about the products they offered.
中国のスマートフォンユーザーは、モバイル広告がいらだちの元だということに同意する。しかしそれら同じ広告があなたのすべての行動を記録しており、買いたいと望む人にあなたのアドレス帳を売ってさえいる可能性が高いことを知っていただろうか？中国の公式テレビ・ネットワークCCTVは最近、中国内でモバイル広告についての秘密調査を行った。顧客になりすましたリポーターをモバイル広告代理店に送り、彼らが提供するプロダクトについて尋ねたのである。
A representative of the Wabang mobile ad agency told reporters that they advertised mostly on pirated apps, telling the journalists that this wasn’t a copyright problem because it hadn’t actually developed the apps itself, it was just serving ads and then splitting the profits with the copycat developers. That’s pretty unethical, but it pales in comparison to what reporters heard from the Yinggao ad agency representative: “This thing [our platform] is like having a tracking device installed on you. Wherever you go, we’ll know about it; as long as you’re connected to the network we’ll know.” The Wabang rep said that they could track clients too.
In information is gathered via plug-ins that come bundled with the software served by these advertising agencies, plug-ins that run unnoticed in the background. They can share your location, your phone number, and other personal data with the ad agencies, and in fact, they can even share your address book.
But why would ad agencies want this information? A representative from Youmi, another mobile ad agency that told reporters it could mine personal data from smartphone users, said that information like users’ contacts and phone numbers was useful because “we also offer some other services, like pushmail and text messages.” In other words, they want your information so that they can make additional money spamming you and your friends via email and text message.
Citing rather vague “industry statistics,” CCTV’s report suggests that this kind of advertising is quite common, so if you’ve got a smartphone in China, there’s a decent chance you could be affected, especially if you’re using any pirated apps. If you’re concerned about this, I’d recommend deleting any apps from developers you don’t trust, and replacing any pirated apps you’ve got with the real thing. Sure, it might cost a little extra to buy the real version, but it’s more than worth the cost in peace of mind.
