Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon, a Democrat, cautioned that foreign governments are monitoring smartphone users by obliging Apple and Google to hand over push notification records. Push notifications, such as news notifications, emails and social media updates, travel through Apple's and Google's servers and can expose detailed knowledge about how people individually use mobile applications. Moreover, Wyden said information about push notification records cannot be made public in the U.S. In a statement released on Wednesday, he asked the DOJ to revoke or adjust any practices that obstruct this clearness.U.S. Senator Ron Wyden has alerted Attorney General Merrick Garland to the possibility of foreign governments spying on smartphone users by compelling Apple and Google to succumb to demands for push notification records. Wyden's office looked into claims from last year that government agencies were "demanding" these records, and found that they can, indeed, be obtained by force in much the same way as other kinds of user data. The senator also noted that in the U.S., this kind of information cannot be made public. Accordingly, he suggested that Apple and Google be allowed to be transparent about such requests, particularly from foreign governments. This would enable users to be made aware of the demands for notification records, something which would be made possible by the data about notifications (which includes app and when it was received, phone and account used, and sometimes unencrypted text) that is held by the tech giants. According to a Reuters report, both U.S. and foreign government agencies have asked Apple and Google for metadata related to their push notifications. Apple confirmed this, stating that now that it's public, they are updating their transparency reporting to reflect such requests. Google voiced their agreement with Wyden, noting that they already publish the number of government requests they get for user data, though did not clarify if push notification records are included in this or not. The Department of Justice has yet to comment on the matter.
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