Latest news with #Androids
Time Business News
3 days ago
- Time Business News
Is Your IMEI Number Linked to Your Personal Data? Let's Bust the Myths!
Online privacy is a hot topic, with many people worried about what their smartphone might be secretly revealing about them. One of the lesser-known but often misunderstood elements is the IMEI number. Could this mysterious 15-digit code reveal your personal information? Could your carrier or even hackers use it to track you? Here we sort fact from fiction and explore what your IMEI really says about you and your phone. What is an IMEI Number? IMEI stands for International Mobile Equipment Identity. It's a unique number assigned to each cell phone that's connected to a cellular network. Think of it as your phone's digital fingerprint- it helps carriers, police, and manufacturers identify the specific device. It's not linked with the SIM card, but with the hardware itself. The IMEI is typically 15 digits and contains: device model information, the serial number, and a specific check digit. IMEI and Personal Data – What's Actually Recorded? This is the million-dollar question: Does the IMEI number contain your personal data? Short answer: Not exactly. Your IMEI does not store: your name or surname, your number, your contact information, your location, or your message, photo, or file contents. The IMEI on its own is only a device identifier. It does not store any personal details at all. Curious what your IMEI number can reveal about your device? Run a quick IMEI Check and see what shows up. So How Does It Get Linked to an Individual? Even though the IMEI does not store personal details, it can become linked to it, most of the time under two circumstances: 1. Mobile Carriers When you buy a phone from your carrier or have a postpaid plan, your IMEI is tracked with your SIM card. Your carrier knows, for example, that SIM 123456789 is running on the device IMEI: 3589410xxxxxxxx. If you had a contract, your name, address, and other information are tied to that SIM, and secondarily, you are tied to the IMEI. That helps the carrier: to track what device you're operating on block your phone if stolen, or provide information to the police when they are inquiring. 2. Law Enforcement & Security Services The police are able to use the IMEI to track or monitor, but only with appropriate lawful authority, e.g., a court order or under special law. This is because the devices leave digital breadcrumbs when they connect to cellular towers. However, being aware of your IMEI isn't enough, tracking requires access to the carrier infrastructure and legal mechanisms. Can Apps Steal My IMEI Number? This is one thing that typically raises eyebrows. In previous Androids, apps had the ability to access IMEI without having to ask for permission. Fortunately, things have changed now. Today: Access to IMEI is restricted in Android 10 and above. Apps can only read the IMEI with your permission and if they have certain system-level privileges. and if they have certain On iOS, access to the IMEI is also extremely limited. external apps practically can't see it. So, if you're running a modern OS and only download apps from trusted sources, the risk of IMEI leakage is minimal. Can Someone Track Me Using My IMEI? Technically: Yes. Practically: Not without legal authority and tools. Tracking a device using its IMEI is possible but: it requires cooperation from your carrier, should be legally justified (e.g. life-threatening emergencies or theft), (e.g. life-threatening emergencies or theft), and not available to ordinary users or businesses. So no, no one can simply Google your IMEI and track you down. Let's set the record straight here. When Should You Be Careful? Although your IMEI is not personal data, it's still not wise to publish it. Avoid the following: posting images of your phone box on the internet with the IMEI in view, adding the IMEI to public sale notices sharing the number with strangers. Why? Because someone might: try to unlock your phone illegally act as you, or report the phone stolen, providing potentially getting it blacklisted and giving you massive headaches. Final Thoughts The IMEI number isn't a spy gadget, it's a technological identifier to prevent theft, check for counterfeits, and aid in servicing your gadget. By itself, it's not personal data. But it can be traced to you by cellular carriers or law enforcement should treat IMEI number like your license plate: not something you shouldn't tell anybody, but not something you should plaster all over the internet either. TIME BUSINESS NEWS
Hindustan Times
10-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Hindustan Times
Love Island USA season 7 voting: How to make your vote count
The new season of Love Island USA is here, and it's already wild. A bunch of single people are living together, getting to know each other, starting relationships, and trying to win $100,000. Just like in past seasons, Love Island USA Season 7 starts with a bunch of single people moving into the Villa, all hoping to find love. This time, Ariana Madix is the host. She'll be there to help them through all the ups and downs along the way. While they do all that, fans like you can just relax, watch the drama, and help decide who stays by voting. You can't vote by calling a number or using a website. That's old-school. Now, you need to get the Love Island USA app on your phone. It works on both iPhones and Androids. Once you download it, the app will let you know when it's time to vote. That way, you won't miss your chance. It's free to use, but you do need to sign up with your phone number to take part. The app also has fun extras—like sneak peeks, polls, and quizzes you won't see on TV. Also Read: Meet the women of Love Island USA season 7: Belle-A Walker, Chelley Bissainthe and Olandria Carthen There's no set schedule for voting. You won't always know in advance when it's time. Voting happens when the show decides, so having the app is the best way to stay ready. The show airs most nights, except Wednesdays. Even if you skip an episode, the app keeps you updated. Also, you only get one vote each time, so make it count! Yes, it does! But not every vote decides who leaves. Sometimes people get sent home based on what happens in the villa. Still, last season's winners—Kordell Beckham and Serena Page—were picked by fans, so your vote could help your favorites win, too. Let's see who makes it to the end—may the top couple take the prize!
Yahoo
06-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Google Going to Trial After Doing Something Super Sketchy to Android Users
In the information age, data is gold — and Google has enough to make King Midas blush. But in this new economic paradigm, all that data comes at a price: privacy lawsuits. To amass its wealth, Google's been caught collecting personal information from users even in incognito mode, tracking location data even when location tracking is off, collecting children's personal information in violation of child safety laws, and selling millions of Americans' health data to a healthcare conglomerate — and that's just a taste. Now, Reuters reports that Google's going to trial in California after a class action lawsuit representing some 14 million state residents alleged the company gathered personal data from their phones even when they were off. The suit alleges that Google enables Android phones to send and receive info "for Google's own purposes," draining users' cellular data as they do. While the California suit is unique for going to trial, it's just one of 50 separate state class action lawsuits being brought against the tech company. Altogether, there are billions of dollars on the line. It's a big case with some major implications: can the companies that sell our phones — and in Google's case with Android, create the underlying operating system — decide whether or not we can ever turn them off? Google's response is telling. Rather than deny that it had collected data on powered-off Androids, it's saying that Android users gave their consent to Google's "passive" data harvesting when they agreed to the company's terms of service agreement, which is required to use the phone. Google is also challenging the core of the plaintiffs' argument — basically, that cell phone data doesn't count as personal property under California law. And if it isn't, then there's nothing wrong with Google taking it without permission. Ultimately, there's a lot of money riding in how the state classifies that nebulous data. George Zelcs, a lawyer representing the plantiffs, told Reuters that Android users aren't arguing against data collection when the phones are on and the apps are fired up. Instead, he notes that "these phone users unknowingly subsidize the same Google advertising business that earns over $200 billion a year." Googles usual tactic when it's caught nabbing data — to settle out of court for millions or sometimes billions of dollars — probably won't fly here, as the timeline reaches all the way back to 2016. With millions of defendants and unfathomable quantities of data at play, any sort of settlement is likely to run in the "tens of billions," according to Reuters. Time will tell whether that's less costly than if Google were to lose all that juicy data altogether. More on law: A Mother Says an AI Startup's Chatbot Drove Her Son to Suicide. Its Response: the First Amendment Protects "Speech Allegedly Resulting in Suicide"
Yahoo
06-06-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Student-led research deploys AI to spot stealthy Android malware
LAKELAND, Fla., June 6, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Researchers at Florida Polytechnic University have developed an artificial intelligence technique that can detect elusive malware known as remote access trojans (RATs) on Android devices. The breakthrough could help protect millions of users from cybercriminals who use RATs to steal personal information and control devices without detection. Nesreen Dalhy B.S. '23, M.S. '25 worked with Dr. Karim Elish, associate professor of computer science at Florida Poly, to identify new, more effective ways to detect this malicious software as part of her master's thesis. "RATs are a significant cybersecurity threat – they are particularly hard to detect, remain persistent and attempt to steal as much of your data as possible," said Dalhy, who has bachelor's and master's degrees in computer science from the University. "A lot of the existing research tries to identify general types of malware, but there isn't much that specifically tries to detect RATs." Dalhy, from Davenport, Florida, said RATs have been a problem for years, evolving alongside technology. They continually find new ways to stay hidden in smartphones and steal users' personal information. Androids account for over 80% of the world's mobile devices. "It can silently run in the background of your phone and spy on you without you realizing it," she said. "When you're using an app, you're just seeing whatever is on the screen and not everything that is going on, and that's what RATs take advantage of." It's under this cyber cloak that the malware can take control of an Android device to make calls, send messages, record audio or video, or even encrypt the device's files and demand a ransom. Dalhy and Elish trained a machine learning model to focus only on narrow samples of malware to identify and differentiate specific RAT patterns. By using different threat intelligence databases, they were able to analyze which malware exhibited RAT behavior and use RAT characteristics to highlight more of the smaller samples for detection. Elish, an expert on Android security, said three models they developed detected almost all RATS with 99% accuracy. The next steps for this work will be developing a mobile application based on its results and expanding the research model to detect a broader range of malware families to improve its utility and effectiveness. "Nesreen did amazing work that will have a lot of impact on the community," Elish said. "I am very proud of her work and that we are able to publish this and present it at an important conference." Dalhy and Elish presented the research at the industry-leading IEEE/ACIS International Conference on Software Engineering, Management and Applications in May. View original content to download multimedia: SOURCE Florida Polytechnic University
Tom's Guide
03-06-2025
- Business
- Tom's Guide
Samsung's pushing some users to turn on their phone's anti-theft features — what you need to know
Your phone is probably the most important thing you have with you right now. Think about how much data and personal information you have in your phone, let alone the value of the device itself. It's no wonder they're a popular target of thieves. Phone makers have been doing a lot to better secure users' phones in recent years, and just last year, Android added a bunch of anti-theft features to help lock down your phone. But it relies on you turning those features on, which is the goal of Samsung's latest campaign. The phone maker has teamed up with the U.K.'s Home Office to educate Galaxy phone owners about these new anti-theft features — and to encourage them to switch them on. As part of this, Samsung will be sending push notifications to Samsung account holders in the U.K. Apparently, the message started rolling out yesterday (June 2) and will be reaching all 40 million U.K. Samsung account holders by the end of the week — through both the Samsung Members platform and social media. Which is a suspiciously high figure, considering the U.K. has a population of 68 million, and means some of the people getting that message may not be Galaxy phone owners. But considering these kinds of features are also available on iPhones and other Androids, the wider reach certainly isn't a bad thing. It sucks to have your phone stolen, but anything you can do to make it even less valuable to thieves is a good thing. Not just for the safety of your own data, but also because it means the thief is going to have a much harder time profiting from your misfortune. Which offers a bittersweet satisfaction. Features on offer include Theft Detection Lock, which locks your phone if it detects motion associated with snatching. Offline Device Lock will also lock down your phone if it's disconnected from a data connection (or Wi-Fi) for an extended period. There's also the classic Remote Lock that lets you initiate a lockdown process using your phone number and a single verification step. Get instant access to breaking news, the hottest reviews, great deals and helpful tips. One UI 7 also adds Identify Check, which locks certain sensitive features behind an extra layer of biometric security if your phone isn't in a pre-set "Safe Place". That way, it's a little harder for thieves to do things like switch off Find My support or reset your account passwords. Attempts to reset biometric data also come with a one-hour delay, giving users time to remotely lock or wipe their devices before thieves can access sensitive areas of the phone. One UI 7 is available on Galaxy S25, S24, S23, S22, Galaxy Z Fold 6, Z Flip 6, Z Fold 5 and Z Flip 5 right now. So be sure to turn on all these extra features.
