Some apps we install on our smartphones may be dangerous. The last example of this came across phones with Android operating system. An application that has millions of downloads has been found to record users’ internet movements. As it is known, in February, Google removed 600 applications in total from the Play Store. Among them was an application called Clean Master, a security tool that offers antivirus and private scanning. Clean Master danger on Android: The app had been downloaded more than 1 billion before it was removed from the Google Play Store. Clean Master, one of Android’s most downloaded apps, is probably currently running on millions of phones. Google has yet to make a statement about the application in question, but the news shows that Clean Master is collecting internet usage data. The data includes details such as which websites users visit from the in-app ‘hidden’ browser, search engine queries and wireless access point names. He followed the users step by step: The Chinese company Cheetah behind the app; he advocates the situation to follow in order to keep users safe and provide them with useful services. In 2018, Google removed the Clean Master File Manager app from the Google Play Store for violating its advertising policies. Gabi Cirlig, a researcher at the cyber security company White Ops, said that only Clean Master did not monitor users’ internet activity. It is stated that CM Browser, CM Launcher and Security Master, the other three Cheetah products, do the same. Cheetah says users collect internet traffic and other data, but they do it for security reasons. The company advocates the incident with the statement “We did it to ensure that the sites visited by users are not dangerous”. On the other hand, Cheetah, which has been listed on the New York Stock Exchange since May 2014, says it has been working with Google to address concerns. If the company in question cannot find a way back to the Google Play Store, it will suffer a serious loss in revenue.
