Two Chinese Applications leak data from hundreds of millions users

Eastern-China, Researchers warned, Tuesday, that two applications developed by the Chinese technology giant Baidu are leaking the data of hundreds of millions of “sensitive” users without their knowledge, making them vulnerable to surveillance and cybercrime, “and perhaps for a lifetime.” .

According to Unit 42 of Palo Alto Network, which specializes in cybersecurity, the two applications are Baidu Search Box and Baidu Maps, and they have been downloaded 1.4 billion times worldwide, including six million users in the United States of America alone.

The Google Store deleted the two applications on October 28, and Google thanked the researchers for uncovering the privacy problems related to the two applications, but the Baidu Search Box application returned to the store after updating it, while Baidu Maps was still deleted.
The researchers said they only checked versions of the two apps on the Google Play Store, but believed that they might cause privacy issues on all other app stores as well.

Among the sensitive information obtained by the two applications, according to researchers, is the identification of the communication provider, the network used, and the international identity of the mobile phone subscribers, through which the user can be identified and tracked even if he changes the mobile device while using the same phone number, as well as information Related to the device being used, and the location of the users.