Android P prevents apps from accessing network activity files to enhance privacy

Recently, thousands of Android apps were found to be illegally tracking children in violation of privacy laws, prompting Google to launch an investigation and take strict action against the developers of such apps. He promised to take action. Google now also appears to be working on a fix to fix another privacy flaw that prevents Android apps from tracking your network activity.

According to a report from XDA-Developers , Android P will introduce native safeguards that will prevent apps from accessing network activity files. This file contains details about other apps that connect to the internet, when they come online, which servers they connect to, and more. etc.

A new commit found on the Android Open Source Project (AOSP) clearly states , “Begin the process of locking down proc/net.” Information is leaked from files in /proc/net. This change is the first step in determining which files your app can use, whitelisting benign access, and removing access while providing a safe alternative API. So what does it mean? /proc/net is a virtual directory that stores information such as network statistics and related network parameters.

Android apps currently have no restrictions on accessing the /proc/net file. This means that Android apps can track your device’s network activity and send the data to developers. However, this change selectively restricts access to files containing network connection details . In addition, any app that attempts to access the /proc/net file is thoroughly checked to ensure that potential exploits are suppressed.

However, the XDA-Developers report states that this change only applies to apps targeting API level 28, which means the new privacy tools will soon be available on Android P or its developer preview. This means that there is a possibility that it will appear. Apps that target API levels lower than 28 (basically all currently available apps running on various builds of Android) will continue to have access to network activity files. However, it is unclear whether these changes will be backported to cover apps running on older Android builds.