this post was submitted on 01 Mar 2024
170 points (98.9% liked)

Technology

59374 readers
3714 users here now

This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.

Our Rules

  1. Follow the lemmy.world rules.
  2. Only tech related content.
  3. Be excellent to each another!
  4. Mod approved content bots can post up to 10 articles per day.
  5. Threads asking for personal tech support may be deleted.
  6. Politics threads may be removed.
  7. No memes allowed as posts, OK to post as comments.
  8. Only approved bots from the list below, to ask if your bot can be added please contact us.
  9. Check for duplicates before posting, duplicates may be removed

Approved Bots

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
170
Phone Push Notifications: A Double-Edged Sword for User Privacy and Law Enforcement (www.theregister.com)
submitted 8 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
18 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

Summary:

  • US courts have received over 130 requests from law enforcement to access push notification data from phones, reported the Washington Post.
  • This data can reveal a user's location, device details, IP address, and more, even if they use encrypted messaging apps.
  • This raises concerns about privacy, as prosecutors and foreign governments could potentially access this data for various reasons.
  • While Apple and Google are promising more transparency regarding data requests, security experts highlight the potential for abuse by governments and marketing organizations.

Key Points:

  • Push notification metadata includes information like the app receiving the notification, timestamp, and network details.
  • This data is not encrypted and can be used to track user movements and activity.
  • Law enforcement can use this data for investigations, but it also raises concerns about potential misuse by other parties.
  • Experts recommend increased awareness about the information users share through push notifications and the potential privacy risks involved.
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] [email protected] 3 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago)

Signal doesn't encrypt notifications from what I understand. It uses Google/Apples notification system like everything else. But the notification only says "Hey, wake up!". Then the Signal app goes and retrieves the message from Signal's servers. That retrieval will be encrypted, but it's outside the push notification system at the point.