Top Mac app steals your browsing history and sends it to China

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The CIA has a team of more than 5,000 hackers.
If you've downloaded Adware Doctor, you may want to reconsider!
Photo: Brian Klug/Flickr CC

A top paid app in the Mac App Store has been revealed as stealing the browser histories of anyone who downloads and uses it.

Adware Doctor is among the top grossing paid apps in the App Store’s utilities category. According to a report by TechCrunch, Apple was warned about the data pilfering several weeks ago, although it has still not pulled the app.

The $4.99 app claims to “keep your Mac safe” by getting rid of “annoying pop-up ads,” and discovering and removing threats on macOS.

However, it also downloads users’ browsing history — including all the sites they have searched for or accessed — and sends this to the app makers in China in the form of a zipped folder. This happens regardless of whether you use Chrome, Firefox, or Safari.

The security flaw was discovered by researcher Patrick Wardle, a former NSA hacker and currently chief research officer at cybersecurity startup Digita Security. According to Wardle, the app is able to somehow bypass the sandboxing features on the Mac, which are designed to stop apps gathering data on users’ hard drives.

It was able to get away with its deception due to the fact that tools which are described as being anti-malware or anti-adware are expected by users to scan files for problems — although, obviously, not to copy files.

Privacy on Apple devices

Recently Apple announced that, from October 3, it will require app developers to host their own privacy policy — describing how apps collect data, how long this is held, and how users can revoke consent and have the data deleted if they wish.

Apple also recently gave users the ability to download a copy of all the data Apple has collected about them — including App Store and iTunes activity, Apple ID account and device information, online and retail store activity, AppleCare support history, and more.

Source: TechCrunch

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