Many Chinese smartphone manufacturers use the Android software platform in their devices, supplementing it with their own settings and numerous pre-installed applications, including adware. Xiaomi is no exception, and the introduction of advertising applications allows you to sell smartphones at a lower price.
Now, the Chinese manufacturer is suspected of violating the trust of users, since one of Xiaomi's proprietary applications could be used to covertly collect personal data, on the basis of which the advertising content displayed was selected. The Google Play Protect service, which checks Android applications, blocked the Xiaomi Quick Apps product due to the fact that it could be used to spy on users.
There have been reports on the Internet that users of this application encountered a problem during the update. When you try to do this, a message appears on the screen saying that updating Quick Apps is blocked because "this application is capable of collecting data that can be used for surveillance."
Why the quick apps is blocked by the play protect?
There is an app update in the app updater system and while installing the quick apps got blocked by play protect.
- Vyas Yalamudi (@vyas_yalamudi)
Although the mentioned application is not available in the Play Store and uses Xiaomi's own platform to distribute it, Play Protect scans all applications on Android smartphones that have Play Services. The message also says that the Quick Apps application has about 55 permissions in the system. Among other things, it has access to calls, SIM and EMEI numbers, it can take photos and record videos. The application stores the collected information in the internal memory of the device and periodically transfers it to the company's servers.
Apparently, Xiaomi used the data collected in this way for targeting ads that are broadcast on the lock screen, in the browser and widgets.
Source: 3dnews.ru