Samsung is facing criticism on social media for installing an 'Israeli spyware app' as a system app on its Galaxy phones, which users cannot remove.
What you should know
Samsung has been accused of integrating an app called 'AppCloud', which is designed to recommend various apps on mobile phones, into the operating system of its devices and collecting user data and providing it to the Israeli government.
Although it has been present on Samsung phones for a long time, it is said that it has been made ‘disabled’ or not easily removed by the general user in the new Galaxy devices. In an open letter sent to Samsung by the Lebanese digital rights organization ‘SMEX’, which describes itself as a non-profit, some time ago, it was asked to ‘end the trend of forcing unnecessary software with Israeli investment’. The letter has now come into the news.
According to Forbes, AppCloud was created by an Israeli company called ‘IonSource’. The news also mentions that IonSource is currently part of the American online game maker Unity. ‘SMEX’ has researched AppCloud and claims that it has been made so that Samsung cannot remove it from the device and that if someone tries to remove it, it can only be removed in a way that will void the phone’s warranty and security measures.
After this topic entered social media, some countries have started discussing banning Samsung devices, but international media outlets have reported that the AppCloud controversy has not been confirmed. Although suspicions have been spreading about this issue for the past two years, it has recently caused a sensation after an ex-user named ‘International Cyber Digest’ posted it.
Samsung is said to have been installing AppCloud on A and M series phones exported to West Asian, North African and Indian markets since 2022. It is being analyzed that sending such phones to countries where Israelis are generally banned from doing business raises legal and ethical questions. As this issue becomes more complicated, Samsung responded by stating that the company takes user data security and privacy seriously and complies with local laws and regulations.
