20% of Android Phone Apps Let Third Parties Access Your Private Data
According to a research report by security firm SMobile Systems, about 20 percent of the 48,000 Android apps in the Android marketplace allow a third party to access the user’s data. This is typically apps sending SMS messages to premium phone numbers, or making phone calls on behalf of users.
Many of those applications are legitimate, but some are definitely malicious. Some of these applications do many of the things that spyware does: getting access to email and text messages, tracking phone call information and device location, etc.