A US security company says a Chinese-made smartphone popular in the United States forwarded detailed user data and user texts back to a Chinese server without the phone owner's knowledge. Virginia-based Kryptowire, which provides mobile security services to government agencies and private businesses, said late Tuesday that it had discovered the problem in a number of Android-based phones using firmware from the Chinese company Shanghai ADUPS Technology. It said the firmware -- software deeply embedded in the phone -- periodically transmitted data that identified the device, the numbers called and received, contact lists and full text messages back to the server for unclear purposes.



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