Google Is Stealing User Data With Phone & Messages App

Google has been under a lot of criticism lately because of privacy concerns and things have just gotten a lot worse since a recent study report claims that Google is stealing user data through its Google Phone (aka Dialer) and Messages apps, which come pre-installed on every Android device.

According to the details, Google Phone and Messages apps are sending user data to the company without user’s consent. Reportedly, the data includes SHA26 hashes of messages, as well as their timestamp, contact information, call logs, and the timeframe of all calls placed by the user.

Douglas Leith, a computer science professor at Trinity College, gathered the research and he states that the company is collecting communication data of the user in a hash format, which can quickly be reversed to the determine the messages’ substance.

Furthermore, he claims that Google has been discreetly avoiding disclosing the company’s data collection policy for its Phone and Messages apps, which is obviously a potential breach of user data. However, Google has provided an explanation as to why it is collecting the said data through its Phone and Messages apps.

The company says that message hash is collected to detect message sequence bugs, while the phone logs are kept to aid in the automated identification of one-time passwords supplied over RCS platform. However, the company needs to improve its collecting mechanism and make user consent necessary.

Read more: WhatsApp Rolls Out Message Reactions For Android Users on Beta.

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