Security News > 2020 > March > Analytics firm’s VPN and ad-blocking apps are secretly grabbing user data
A popular analytics platform has been secretly installing root certificates on mobile devices so it can suck up users' data from its 20 or more ad-blocker and virtual private network mobile apps, according to a BuzzFeed News investigation.
Some of the apps are no longer available, but BuzzFeed News said it recently traced a handful of apps in the Google Play store to Sensor Tower, including Free and Unlimited VPN, Luna VPN, Mobile Data, and Adblock Focus.
Two of the apps - Adblock Focus and Luna VPN - were also available in Apple's App Store.
One clue was an online résumé belonging to a Sensor Tower developer that says he built "Android apps to power the Sensor Tower analytics platform." His GitHub username shows up in the code of multiple apps.
Randy Nelson, Sensor Tower's head of mobile insights, told BuzzFeed News that the company kept its ownership of the apps hush-hush "For competitive reasons." He says that Sensor Tower is now taking steps to make its connection to the apps "Perfectly clear."