Android phone maker Blu pledges to replace Chinese software that stole user data

Blu, the Florida-based maker of budget Android phones, says it’s swapping out the Chinese update software that stole user data for Google-approved software, according to a report in PCMag. The issue, first unveiled last month by security firm Kryptowire, was a firmware-updating application that monitored user communications and even sent back text messages to a keyword-searchable archive on a Chinese server. Now, any Blu phone — including the popular $50 Blu R1 HD — will use Google’s standard over-the-air firmware-updating tool. 

According to Blu CEO Sammy Ohev-Zion, the company will "not install third-party applications where we don't have the source code and don't understand the behavior.” Blu is also planning on updating its privacy policy to clarify the type of data its firmware-updating tools gather. Shanghai Adups Technology Co., the Chinese app maker in question, claims its data collection tool was not designed for US phones, and that the data has since been deleted.

Blu is now attempting to regain consumer trust, especially after Amazon halted sales of the unlocked R1 HD after news of the data theft surfaced. Blu does a substantial amount of its sales online through retail outlets like Amazon. The revelations from Kryptowire last month called into question Blu’s business model of buying up cheap Chinese smartphones and relying on some of the devices’ third-party software. Blu has now signed a deal with Kryptowire to have its phones monitored for the next year for any malicious software.

he article was published on : theverge