Ever wonder if the photos you snapped with your Android device were safe from others to see? Well, I’m sure you hadn’t considered it, but it turns out they’re not. Developers have the capability to see users photos right after they allow them to access their local information! This little glitch can occur without any notice to the user as well.
Once you allow the developer access to connect to the Internet, they could potentially upload your pics to any server right under your nose. There is no information leading us to know if Android applications currently do this, but there is always that chance. Google has responded to the matter, and let us know that this feature was designed in the earlier stages of the OS when photos were stored on the SD card rather than the internal storage we find in newer devices.
In Google’s word’s they are “considering a fix”, so hopefully they take it as serious as the Google Wallet security incident. The Wallet application had an update just yesterday that supposedly blocks hackers from accessing your information, and I suppose it will take an equal amount of time for Google to tend to this issue. In my own opinion, this vulnerability trumps the Google Wallet issue – as it potentially affects everyone.
[via SlashGear]
It is not a flaw or a glitch, it’s how every other OS has always worked except iOS.
It only a story because iOS had a bug in that security measure and then someone noticed that Android can do the same thing because it’s a feature, not a flaw.
I agree with Garrett. It is the same with Windows, MacOS, Linux……You could download an application for Windows that uploads all of your pictures to the app writers servers without giving any permissions whatsoever (Or granting it firewall access).
The advice, as always, is to only install apps from trusted sources.