355

Samsung Embeds Israeli Surveillance App on Phones Across MENA (www.moroccoworldnews.com)

submitted 1 week ago by IndustryStandard@lemmy.world to c/privacy@lemmy.ml

33 comments fedilink hide all child comments

A nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing human rights in digital spaces across West Asia and North Africa — is warning that Israeli-linked software secretly embedded in Samsung phones across the MENA 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.

In 2022, Samsung MENA partnered with Israeli tech company IronSource, integrating its Aura software into Galaxy A and M series phones across the region. The partnership was publicly marketed as a way to “enhance user experience” with AI-powered apps and content suggestions.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[-] Auli@lemmy.ca 2 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

Just throw your SIM card in it why would I have to talk to the carriers.

[-] eldavi@lemmy.ml 2 points 1 week ago

The phone won't get a signal w the SIM card and the stores are the only people the carriers have shared this information with.

this post was submitted on 19 Sep 2025

355 points (99.2% liked)

Privacy

42167 readers

1075 users here now

A place to discuss privacy and freedom in the digital world.

Privacy has become a very important issue in modern society, with companies and governments constantly abusing their power, more and more people are waking up to the importance of digital privacy.

In this community everyone is welcome to post links and discuss topics related to privacy.

Some Rules

Posting a link to a website containing tracking isn't great, if contents of the website are behind a paywall maybe copy them into the post
Don't promote proprietary software
Try to keep things on topic
If you have a question, please try searching for previous discussions, maybe it has already been answered
Reposts are fine, but should have at least a couple of weeks in between so that the post can reach a new audience
Be nice :)

Related communities

much thanks to @gary_host_laptop for the logo design :)

founded 5 years ago

MODERATORS