The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) through the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) has published a warning against using applications from other countries, mainly China. The message applies to all mobile systems, but in practice it is most important for Android and iOS users who download popular applications from Google Play and the App Store. The FBI does not name any specific app names – the alert is general and focuses on “foreign mobile apps,” especially those developed by companies based in China.
Why is the FBI warning?
The main reason is China's national security law, which allows the Chinese government to access user data of applications developed and maintained by Chinese companies. These apps often store collected information on servers in China for as long as developers deem necessary.
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Once a user agrees to permissions, the app can permanently collect data and private information from across the device – not just within the app itself, and not just while it's active. Many platforms offer an “invite friends” or “invite contacts” feature. Default permissions then allow developers to retrieve the names, email addresses, user IDs, physical addresses, and phone numbers of both the user and people in their address book – including those who do not use the application. Third party data may be exposed in this way.
Suspicious applications may steal data that we enter on the smartphone, including payment card numbers
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The privacy policies of some applications clearly indicate that the collected data goes to servers located in China. There is also a risk that applications downloaded from outside official stores contain malicious code (malware), backdoors and privilege escalation mechanisms that allow additional data to be stolen and are difficult to remove.
As a result, users risk serious breaches of their own and their contacts' privacy, unauthorized access to data by foreign governments, malware infections, and use of information for identity theft or phishing attacks.
All the FBI's advice – how to protect yourself
The FBI emphasizes that the threats described do not apply only to foreign applications and calls for maintaining “good cyber hygiene.” Here are the full recommendations in the release:
- Disable unnecessary data sharing and limit application permissions to the minimum necessary.
- Download applications only from official stores (Google Play or App Store) – the risk of malware is much lower there.
- Change and update your passwords regularly.
- Perform regular updates of the operating system and all installed applications.
- Before installation, read the Terms of Service and the End User License Agreement (EULA).
- Check the app's privacy policy, paying particular attention to where your data is stored (e.g. on servers in China).
- Avoid apps that offer “invite friends” or “invite contacts” options unless absolutely necessary – this is a common indicator of excessive address book data collection.
The FBI warning is not an alert directed against one or two specific applications (such as Genshin Impact or Temu, which only appear as examples in the media).
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This is a broad appeal for greater awareness of the risks associated with popular foreign applications – especially Chinese ones – that can be used for mass data collection. The most effective protection remains common sense, minimizing permissions and downloading software only from official sources.
