An anti-fraud application developed by Chinese police was found collecting excessive personal data on smartphones amid growing complaints of forced installation.
Developed by the Ministry of Public Security, the “National Anti-fraud Center” app is branded as the only national anti-fraud mobile application with functions ranging from quick report to prevention of phone scams, cases of fraud and learning materials.
The free app was launched last month but netizens have been complaining about forced installation as the local governments were pressured by the central authorities to boost the download rate.
Some users shared their bad experiences on Twitter and the review section on Apple’s app store, but not on mainland social media platforms due to fear of retaliation or punishment from the authorities.
Those without the anti-fraud app were barred from entering government premises or private office buildings. A tenant said he was forced to install the app at the entrance of the housing estate or he would be banned from returning home.
A user owning an iPhone 8 China version found the anti-fraud app was downloaded automatically after updating the iOS, questioning the app store’s failure in gatekeeping.
As of April 9, a total of 433 comments on Apple’s app store review section complained about forced installation. The national app scored only 1.6 out of 5 from 6,000 ratings and received overwhelmingly negative reviews.
Users are not only required to provide their name and face recognition to create an account, the app also seeks 29 access permissions including sensitive data like photos, cameras, microphones, storage and removal of data.
Apart from coerced downloads, the app was slammed for its technical issues, as users could not receive verification codes needed for installation.
Anthony Lai, a web application security expert, suggested the authorities to clearly state the use of the data obtained to avoid misunderstanding. For example, for phone scams, the app only needs to monitor the incoming calls and not the outgoing calls or the call log, Lai said.
The big data collected by the Chinese police via the app could help ramp up surveillance, Lai noted, adding that the app is only an auxiliary tool in fraud prevention.
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