Push notification spying was used by the US and other international governments, with Apple and Google entitled to secrecy
International governments, including the United States, are using it push notifications to spy on iOS and Android cell phone users. The practice was revealed in an open letter published by US Senator Ron Wyden and later confirmed by the agency Applewho said lawmakers prevented her from speaking on the issue.
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Through court orders requiring secrecy, both Maçã and the Google would have been prevented from disclosing requests via user notifications in their transparency reports. Requests that require users to send push notifications are seen as a form of spying that, at least in theory, escapes the security measures imposed by the apps themselves.
As Wyden explained, the orders take advantage of how the technology itself works. While communication between apps happens directly, push notifications must go through Apple and Android servers, which act as intermediaries in providing alerts; with them would also come sensitive information that would be obtained by the authorities.
The messengers like it Whatsappthat has end-to-end encryption, they would be safe for this very reason, since notifications are protected by the same protocol. The same, however, cannot be said of, for example, delivery or transportation apps, whose alerts can provide the user’s location, spending details and other information.
Even without having access to the content of the messages, cross-referencing notification information between two users could also reveal that they are communicating. This would also apply to those who have security features to prevent messages from appearing in on-screen alerts.
Push notification data follows the same requirements as messages, calls and other information, which must be stored by service providers. Thus, the court orders centralize requests to Apple and Google, which act as intermediaries, rather than sending individual requests to the tech companies.
The report led to the revelation of espionage
While official orders prevented providers from disclosing data about the practice in their transparency reports, a technicality managed to change that. When Wyden made the system public, the gag orders were no longer in effect, with Apple being the first to inform that it would include such orders in its surveys.
In the statement sent to the American press, Maçã was adamant, clearly stating that the American government prohibited the company from disclosing any information on orders linked to push notifications. Google had not yet commented as of the publication of this report.
According to the US senator, the open letter is the result of an investigation that began in mid-2022, when a complaint arrived. The request, addressed to the Department of Justice, is for greater transparency regarding the practice and an end to gag orders sent to online service providers.
Source: 9to5Mac
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Source: Terra
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