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New approach uncovers data abuse on mobile end devices

Lee Rannals for redOrbit.com ? Your Universe Online As the smartphone industry continues to grow, so does privacy concerns, but one new application might be putting an end to it. Computer scientists from Saarbr?n have developed the app "SRT AppGuard" to keep smartphone applications from stealing personal information. "My smartphone knows everything about me, starting with my name, my phone number, my e-mail address, my interests, up to my current location," computer science professor Michael Backes said in a press release. He said he is not surprised that several apps display simple functionality upfront, but in the background are detailing the location of a user, stealing contact details of friends, and send the identification number of the device out. A study by a team from the University of California in Santa Barbara found that 21 percent of the 825 apps examined by the iPhone forwarded the ID number of the device out, four percent sent out the location of the user, and 0.5 percent copied the addr

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