U.S. Senator says government agencies are spying on iOS and Android users

Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) believes that foreign government agencies are snooping on iOS and Android users and per Reuters (via AndroidAuthority), the senator wrote a letter to the Department of Justice (DOJ) asking the agency to allow information about push notification surveillance to be released. The senator said that foreign governments are using push notifications sent out by apps to spy on smartphone users. 

"I write to urge the Department of Justice (DOJ) to permit Apple and Google to inform their customers and the general public about demands for smartphone app notification records," Wyden's letter said. The senator says that the U.S. government has restricted Apple and Google from publicly discussing the surveillance by foreign governments.

A push notification is a notification sent to your phone delivered from an app installed on the device. As Wyden explains, these notifications must go through a "digital post office" run by Apple and Google for iOS and Android respectively. In his missive to the DOJ, the senator writes, "Because Apple and Google deliver push notification data, they can be secretly compelled by governments to hand over this information."

The information that Senator Wyden fears that Apple and Google could be forced to turn over to the foreign government agencies includes how individual smartphone users interact with certain apps, and a notification's complete text along with unencrypted content. Wyden wants the DOJ to allow Apple and Google to be completely honest about the demands they receive from foreign governments for information from push notifications.

Senator Wyden wrote in his letter, "Apple and Google are in a unique position to facilitate government surveillance of how users are using particular apps. The data these two companies receive includes metadata, detailing which app received a notification and when, as well as the phone and associated Apple or Google account to which that notification was intended to be delivered."

Both Apple and Google were appreciative of Senator Wyden's letter and said that push notification surveillance has been taking place for some time. Apple went so far as to admit that the government would not allow the company to disclose that it received requests for push notification data but said that it would start sharing this information with users. 

In a statement to Reuters Apple said, "In this case, the federal government prohibited us from sharing any information. Now that this method has become public, we are updating our transparency reporting to detail these kinds of requests."

Google also admitted that push notification surveillance is a "thing" and said that it agreed with Senator Wyden's "commitment to keeping users informed about these requests." Google's transparency report already posts government requests for push notification data.