Saturday, February 21, 2026

Unsecured AI Apps Compromise Personal Data of Android Users

Not all AI apps in your phone’s marketplace prioritize privacy. Many unsecured apps on the Google Play Store, particularly those for identity verification and media editing, pose significant privacy risks, exposing billions of records. A Cybernews investigation highlighted the “Video AI Art Generator & Maker” app, which leaked 1.5 million user images and over 385,000 videos due to a misconfigured Google Cloud Storage bucket. This flaw left 12 terabytes of media files publicly accessible. Another app, IDMerit, compromised sensitive know-your-customer data for users in 25 countries, including full names and addresses, totaling one terabyte of information. Both developers addressed the vulnerabilities post-notification. However, cybersecurity experts caution that many AI apps exhibit serious security flaws, with 72% of analyzed apps found to have vulnerabilities, often due to the dangerous practice of “hardcoding secrets,” embedding sensitive data within the app’s source code. Users should exercise caution when downloading AI tools.

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