Government Surveillance: How Push Notifications are Used to Spy on iOS and Android Users

The US government and foreign law enforcement agencies can demand that Apple and Google share metadata associated with push notifications from apps on iOS and Android, according to court records and US Senator Ron Wyden. Push notifications can reveal which apps a person uses, providing information that may be relevant to law enforcement investigations. Law enforcement must first obtain the relevant push token from an app developer and then request information from Apple or Google to identify a person of interest. While the content of push notifications is not included in this information, additional requests could potentially provide access to specific push content. Apple has updated its transparency report to reflect government requests for push notification records, while Google includes these requests in its transparency reports.