New White House App Causes Cybersecurity Disaster
By Sydney Johnson
Courtesy of The White House
The White House app was released to the public last Friday, with the purpose of “[delivering] unparalleled access to the Trump administration," according to the White House's announcement.
The app includes ‘services’ such as presenting data on grocery costs, livestreams, and links to the administration's social media accounts. According to CNBC, the app has a ‘Social’ tab with a button linking to ICE’s official website, where citizens can submit tips. Despite the app's stated intent, it mainly features pictures of Trump and data on his second-term accomplishments.
What is not being advertised, though, is the lack of privacy the user has when using the app. A blogger with the username Thereallo decompiled the White House app's code and found invasive processes running in the background.
Some of the spyware found included the Android app logging users' GPS location every 4.5 minutes and tracking users' notification interactions, such as whether they clicked them. It also pulls the user's phone number from the device and attaches marketing tags to users based on their demographics. The app gets this demographic information through the push notification system, OneSignal.
In addition to these security risks, the app removes privacy consent banners, meaning users do not have the option to opt out of the tracking software. Overall, this program is essentially the current administration's gateway to compiling extensive profiles of American citizens.
There have been many concerns across America regarding the growing amount of surveillance of citizens. The company Palantir has already been creating profiles of citizens for the Department of Homeland Security by using data collected from the government and companies, sorting it into comprehensive profiles to flag people for things like citizenship status.
Benjamin Marshall, a computer science major at Hampton University, shared his opinion on the growing lack of privacy for American citizens due to software like this. “ I don't think people realize how important cybersecurity is nowadays, with how much spyware could be on your phone. People hit accept without reading into things further. The data being collected doesn't come from thin air; it's almost everything you do on the internet, and don't think twice about”. It looks like the app is just another step closer to a surveillance-like state in America.