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Bob Ferguson

So I’m getting a new phone for my birthday. No iPhone is in my future. But I am amazed about the endless stream of apps; both functional and insipidly awesome.

However, as with any new technology, flaws and glitches in the initial versions of these programs are not rare.

Banking giant Citi recently encountered said glitch with its mobile iPhone banking app. The problem was that the program was storing sensitive personal account information directly into a folder on the phone. When the phone was synched up to the user’s computer, the info was also transferred to the hard drive. 

So if one were to lose their phone or laptop … Yikes.

There doesn’t seem to have been any malicious access reported, but Citi acted quickly with an update to the app that they are urging all users to immediately download through iTunes or the Apple App Store.  Bullet dodged (again).

Meanwhile, an Andoid app that offers My Little Pony and Star Wars wallpaper designs is anything but innocent. Jackeey Wallpaper, which one blogger says is “supposedly made by some knucklehead group that is beyond the reach of U.S. laws,” quietly collects your phone number, SIM card numbers and other data and sends it off to China.

- Darius Schwarz, Public Affairs Intern
(Kristin Alexander contributed to this post.) 

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