Apps by Driveframe - Malware?

[Sabre Wulf]

I wanted to bring attention to some apps in the Store by Driveframe LLC. There are around 40 conversion apps, each doing different types of conversion. These seem suspicious to me for a few reasons:

1) Typically you get 1 single app capable of doing all these conversions, if it is genuine.

2) The phone capabilities used by these apps is nothing short of insanity for an app that merely converts inches to meters etc. Each one requires contacts, phone identity, owner identity, appointments, location, indeed all phone capabilities it seems.

3) The privacy policy is strange too. It mentions a secure https connection to a server.

I think these apps are Malware, and although they pass certification to the Store, it does not mean they are legitimate. It is up to the user to accept what the app does, and most people do not look at the details.

I have 'reported a concern' for some of them, citing 'protection of user privacy'. I would suggest you do not download or use them.

What are your thoughts?

 

[N_LaRUE]

I would agree that it appears rather odd. Though anyone spending ?2.29 on a simple converter app when there are free better ones is not someone I want to be friends with. Their requirements do seem over the top as well for a simple converter app. Though I wouldn't be overly surprised as most devs just do that as default.

Maybe a dev would be able to answer this question better but I didn't think WP was easily compromised by apps.

 

[Sabre Wulf]

Some of the apps are free. Basically, if the user agrees to the apps phone capabilities, the user is allowing access to those assets, eg your location and contacts. Then it is the privacy policy that explains what will be done with the info. Ultimately it comes down to the user to trust the app. I am a dev, and it is not really a matter of what can be done, since the phone capabilities define that, but that these are suspicious capabilities for such an app and most people dont take much notice if that.