this post was submitted on 20 Sep 2025
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Samsung Embeds Israeli Surveillance App on Phones Across MENA (www.moroccoworldnews.com)
submitted 1 week ago by spaghettiwestern@sh.itjust.works to c/technology@lemmy.world
35 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

Rabat_ Social Media Exchange (SMEX)—a nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing human rights in digital spaces across MENA [Middle East and North Africa] — is warning that Israeli-linked software secretly embedded in Samsung phones across the Middle East and North Africa region poses a serious surveillance threat.

According to SMEX, Samsung’s A and M series devices either come preloaded with the app “Aura” or install it automatically through system updates, without the user’s consent. The application reportedly collects a wide range of personal and device-specific data, including IP addresses, device fingerprints, hardware details, and network information.

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[–] cerebralhawks@lemmy.dbzer0.com 24 points 1 week ago

I wonder what spyware they'd be willing to put in their phones in the US for the regime in charge.

Also, if I bought a Samsung phone while a dictator is in charge and it gets the update and I get the spyware — hypothetically speaking here — and by the time a progressive is in office, they're pushing updates that remove it, but my phone is outside the update period, how would I go about removing it? Just buy a new one at cost? Seems like that's something they'd let you do for free, though.