Governments Tracking Users via Push Notifications

[Telecom Digest Moderator]

https://www.reuters.com/technology/cybersecurity/governments-spying-apple-google-users-through-push-notifications-us-senator-2023-12-06/

WASHINGTON, Dec 6 (Reuters) - Unidentified governments are surveilling
smartphone users via their apps' push notifications, a U.S. senator
warned on Wednesday.

In a letter to the Department of Justice, Senator Ron Wyden said foreign
officials were demanding the data from Alphabet's (GOOGL.O) Google and
Apple (AAPL.O). Although details were sparse, the letter lays out yet
another path by which governments can track smartphones.

...

That gives the two companies unique insight into the traffic flowing
from those apps to their users, and in turn puts them "in a unique
position to facilitate government surveillance of how users are using
particular apps," Wyden said. He asked the Department of Justice to
"repeal or modify any policies" that hindered public discussions of push
notification spying.

In a statement, Apple said that Wyden's letter gave them the opening
they needed to share more details with the public about how governments
monitored push notifications.

...