An article published by Televizioni Klan, writes about a COVID-19 app that steals users' personal data. This article has been widely shared by other online media outlets in Kosovo.
This text does not contain any sources of information indicating where this research came from, and only a few experts are mentioned, without specifying who they are talking about.
Original text published on TVKlan.al:
Covid-19 app steals your personal data
An app that supposedly provides data on Covid-19 worldwide could actually be dangerous for Android phones.
The alarm was raised by experts, who say it concerns an app called "Aarogya Setu", which is similar in name to another certified Covid tracking app.
This application, which is active for Android mobile phones, is potentially dangerous as it is used by hackers who can steal your personal data on your mobile phone.
Through this application, hackers have the ability to view your messages, phone calls, track your location, and also have access to the microphone of the mobile device. Experts suggest that users delete the application from their mobile phone.
Links to the article published in several media outlets:
Covid-19 app steals your personal data
Covid-19 app steals your personal data
Covid-19 app steals your personal data
Covid-19 app steals your personal data
However, it is widely known that a large percentage of online applications require personal data and access to the device through which the application is downloaded. This is also evidenced by the report by Shadma Shaikh for The Economic Times, which states that online applications have access to the personal data of users, as most of them first present the terms of use, which must be approved (I Agree). In most cases, these terms are not read at all by users, where after agreeing to these terms, the application has access to personal data.
Also, this report states that there are applications that, once downloaded, request access to personal photos, name, surname, phone number, and location.
As a result, the application's request to access personal information is not new.
Article published in The Economic Times:
Why mobile apps require access to your data and device tools
Analysis:
This article does not contain any source of information or names of experts who claim such a thing regarding this application. After analysis by hibrid.info, this article is categorized as "Unverified Content".
Reasoning:
Unverified content – The “Unverified” rating is given to those media reports that do not provide sufficient information to confirm the claims made in the report, and which have not been able to confirm the same due to the lack or non-possession of reliable sources.