NSA Spying on Apps Shows Perils of Google+, ‘Candy Crush’

Revelations that the National Security Agency is tapping smartphone applications to mine personal information highlight the risk millions take every day when they play games, schedule lunch or check the weather.

Documents released by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden to the New York Times, the Guardian and ProPublica show the U.S. and U.K. have infiltrated mobile software for details about users comings and goings and social affiliations. Among the so-called leaky apps with the greatest privacy perils are Google Inc. (GOOG)s Google Plus, Pinterest Inc.s online bulletin board and Candy Crush Saga, the most popular game on Facebook Inc. (FB), according to an analysis by Zscaler Inc.

Privacy is dead in the digital world that we live in, said Michael Sutton, vice president of security research at San Jose, California-based Zscaler. I tell people, unless you are comfortable putting that statement on a billboard in Times Square and having everyone see it, I would not share that information digitally.

The latest disclosures from Snowden underscore how vast a treasure trove mobile apps are, and not only for the advertisers that sweep them for consumer data. Zscalers analysis found that 96 percent of the top 25 social-networking apps request e-mail access, 92 percent ask for access to users address books and 84 percent inquire about their physical locations. Sutton said most people give the apps what they want.

Applications for smartphones and tablets present a challenge when it comes to security because, unlike with computer software, most apps depend almost entirely on ads to make money.

While technology companies often encrypt what they collect to shield it from prying eyes, the advertising services they work with frequently dont, said Kevin Mahaffey, co-founder and chief technology officer of Lookout Inc. in San Francisco.

Lookout studied 30,000 apps a day this month and found that 38 percent of those for Android systems could determine locations, that half could access the unique code assigned to a persons device and that 15 percent could grab phone numbers.

The reach of apps, and of the networks advertisers use to pass data around, make them natural eavesdropping targets and are aiding a shift in the focus of surveillance efforts away from personal computers, Mahaffey said.

They have a lot of valuable information and theyre everywhere, he said. Everyone from the NSA to Microsoft to Google see mobile as the future.

Google, based in Mountain View, California, declined to comment and referred to a statement from the Application Developers Alliance, a trade group to which it belongs.

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NSA Spying on Apps Shows Perils of Google+, ‘Candy Crush’