Are HTC Phones Invading Our Privacy?

Recent investigations of Taiwanese manufacturer HTC are pointing to a possible security hole exposing personal data. Some Android phones are believed to allow Internet applications to access a user's information, such as their location or text messages.

Could this prove to be dangerous to Android phone owners? Who is at risk?

HTC's Sense UI, a graphical user interface, is said to be responsible for this vulnerability. An application file titled HTCLoggers.apk holds information to online apps. The file can provide access to data like GPS locations, WiFi network data, or even system logs on the phone itself. Phone numbers and e-mail addresses would be accessible.

Android Police, the blog that discovered the breach, also says only an update or patch from HTC can fix the problem. Some HTC manufactured phones can apparently delete the HTCLoggers package, but only a handful of them have been found to do it successfully.

So far, HTC has given no public response to users inquiring about the log file. Whether harmful or not, it may be wise to keep an eye for invasive OS files like HTCLoggers.