Children's tablet has malware and exposes kids' data, researcher finds [and she installed Tor 🧅 to protect her daughter’s anonymity]
Children's tablet has malware and exposes kids' data, researcher finds [and she installed Tor 🧅 to protect her daughter’s anonymity]
Walmart subsequently pulled the affected tablet from its online store, while Amazon and Google said they are investigating.
The app store “collects and sends data […] This includes information like device model, brand, country, timezone, screen size, view events, click events, logtime of events, and a unique KID ID,”
Hancock didn’t return the tablet to her daughter until after making changes to protect her daughter’s privacy.
[She] even installed Tor, a browser that is designed to protect the anonymity of its user.
An awesome Mom, like Mrs. Roberts from xkcd!
This is the best summary I could come up with:
The Dragon Touch KidzPad Y88X contains traces of a well-known malware, runs a version of Android that was released five years ago, comes pre-loaded with other software that’s considered malware and a “potentially unwanted program” because of “its history and extensive system level permissions to download whatever application it wants,” and includes an outdated version of an app store designed specifically for kids, according to Hancock’s report, which was released on Thursday and seen by TechCrunch ahead of its publication.
The first worrying thing Hancock said she found on the tablet were traces of the presence of Corejava, which in January cybersecurity firm Malwarebytes analyzed and concluded was malicious.
Also this year, the Electronic Frontier Foundation and independent security researchers discovered the same type of malware embedded in the software of cheap Android-powered TVs.
KIDOZ founder Eldad Ben Tora told TechCrunch that the app is certified to respect COPPA, the U.S. federal law that carves out some online privacy protections for children, and that the app “underwent a rigorous assessment process by an FTC-approved COPPA Safe Harbor Program called PRIVO, which included a thorough review of our data collection, storage, and usage practices.”
“This process ensures that our services fully comply with COPPA requirements, prioritizing the protection of children’s privacy,” Ben Tora told TechCrunch.
Google spokesperson Ed Fernandez told TechCrunch by email that the company was “thoroughly evaluating the claims in this report to determine whether the manufacturer’s device meets the security standards required for Play Protect certification.”
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