14 DAY TRIAL // Smartphone manufacturer BLU is in hot water once again, as security researchers discovered spyware on its devices for the second time, this, in turn, triggering a ban on all models from Amazon.
BLU’s products were first discovered to be shipping with spyware last year in November when researchers at Kryptowire came across an app from Shanghai Adups Technology which was used to collect user data and send it to servers in China.
At that time, BLU confirmed the issue and promised to resolve it, getting in touch with Adups to remove the feature that was collecting user information.
But this week at Black Hat conference, Kryptowire revealed that despite BLU’s claims, data collecting features are still there on BLU’s phones, with at least three models confirmed to be shipping with the spyware.
BLU, however, says these claims are “inaccurate and false reports,” explaining that the company has already “reached out to several reporters to correct their articles and issue apologies, which BLU has started receiving.”
Spyware removed, only telemetry data being collected
The company says that the spyware was removed from its devices after the first reports surfaced in late 2016, but all its models are now completely clean, pointing out that even though some data is collected and sent to China, it’s just the typical information used for diagnosis and telemetry. “The data that is currently being collected is standard for OTA functionally and basic informational reporting. This is in line with every other smartphone device manufacturer in the world. There is nothing out of the ordinary that is being collected, and certainly does not affect any user's privacy or security,” the company says in a press released which you can read in full after the jump.
The firm says there’s nothing wrong in using servers in China, explaining that other companies use them too without any concerns of user privacy violation.
“Regarding that some information may be stored in China servers, their privacy policy clearly states that some of the data collected can be stored in servers outside the US, there is absolutely nothing wrong with having a server in China. BLU management takes issue with the statement that any server in China is prone to risk while several other multibillion dollar companies and other mobile manufactures such as Huawei and ZTE use them,” BLU says.
Despite BLU denying claims of spyware on its phones, Amazon has already banned sales of the company’s Android smartphones on its website, as it wants users to be fully secure. Amazon says the ban would be removed if the problem is addressed, though it remains to be seen how the company handles the controversy given that BLU itself says no spyware is running on its phones.