Android and iOS have both been targeted through a report claiming that they both allow third party developers access and copy your images if you allow the app locations services. According to the New York Times developers who make apps for Apple iOS and Google Android have access to a users entire photo library.
Google is the worst when it comes to this because they don’t have to have location services specifically enabled and only need internet access for this issue. These images that are accessed can be copied to a remote server directly from your device. The process is explained by the New York Times Chief Technology Officer Ralph Gootee:
‘Installing the app produces a notification that it wants to be able to access the Internet, but there is no notice about photos. When the app is started and the user sets the timer, the app goes into the photo library, retrieves the most recent image and posts it on a public photo-sharing site.’
Google however has acknowledged the loophole and promised to look into it. This being said the statement they made is as follows:
‘A central design point of the Android security architecture is that no application, by default, has permission to perform any operations that would adversely impact other applications, the operating system, or the user.’
It added: ‘reading or writing the user’s private data.’
Moral of the story is don’t keep anything on your Android or iPhone that you are worried about others getting their hands on. Go old fashion with an actual camera for those home videos and images (you know what I’m talking about).