BLU CEO goes on record explaining the data collection scandal, outlines preventive plans

BLU CEO has gone on record clarifying the situation where it was discovered that the firmware in some of its smartphones was collecting text messages and call logs. The collected data was being sent to servers in China without the consent of the users using the smartphones. The company launched an investigation and confirmed that the responsible piece of code was stripped down from the smartphone firmware. Weeks ago the incident was widely reported; the company has now presented details of the issue.

According to the company CEO, Ohev-Zion, the root of the problem lies in the third party software. BLU hired Adups for the important function of over-the-air (OTA) firmware updates where the application would help BLU manage the OTA firmware.

But an analysis by security company Kryptowire released the data collection done by one version of the OTA update maintenance app provided by Adups. The CEO clarified that the company did not know about the data collection elements added by the third party and stripped the code as soon as they got the confirmation .

The company announced that it had no intent of collecting user data and the company has teamed up with Google to build its OTA procedure based on the system made by Google for regular security patches. BLU also hired Kryptowire to audit the privacy of Adups app and audit the app behaviour shown by the app as reported by Android Authority

BLU CEO also provided that most of the companies already collect and use this data after showing you Terms and Conditions which they know nobody will read. One thing to note is that according to Adups, approximately 700 million smartphones are using the OTA app by the company to receive the OTA updates on their smartphones.