Apple’s iOS Safari browser collects and sends user data to Tencent

Apple’s Safari browser has long been sending data to Google Safe Browsing to help protect users from phishing websites. But it seems now that Chinese internet giant Tencent is also getting these data.

The developers discovered that on iOS 13 (and possibly iOS 12.2 or later), the Safari browser sent data to Tencent Safe Browseing instead of Google Safe Browsing. However, it is not clear at this time that Tencent only collects data from users in China, or even in other countries.

Concerns from users began to emerge, surrounding what Tencent can do with this data. Both Google and Tencent can access users’ browsing data, in order for their fraud protection systems to work. But the frequent cooperation between Tencent and the Chinese Government has made many people worried that this data could be used for many other monitoring purposes.

Apple does not currently have any comments.

Users can also turn off the Fraudulent Website Warning feature in Safari’s Settings. The problem is that Apple activates this feature by default, without notifying users. In addition, Apple did not say what data was sent to Tencent and where Tencent is allowed to collect data.

Apple’s cooperation with Tencent is also a surprise. It may, however, be related to the policies imposed by the Chinese government on Internet services and applications operating within its territory.

Reference: engadget