WhatsApp lets users delete messages for ‘everyone’, but sometimes it gets annoying because we all get curious about what was sent. It appears there’s an app on the Google Play app store dubbed WAMR that lets users check the deleted messages. At the time of writing this article, the app published by ‘drilens’ is still available to download on the app store and has over 50 million installs. However, experts are now warning against this app as it risks users’ online privacy.
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What does WAMR do?
WARM’s official Google Play listing notes the app requires the phone to run on Android 5 and above, and it is 16MB in size. The developer explains that WAMR does not access WhatsApp chats as messages are encrypted. However, it keeps a track of notifications, so if a message is deleted before the users see it, WAMR will have a record of the notification history. It will also “try to save any media attached to the message, and if the sender deletes it, you will receive a notification.”
The app’s Google Play listing notes some limitations. For instance, if a chat is archived forever, WAMR won’t work as no notifications will be received. The listing further notes, “If messages aren’t being saved, it may be caused by Android killing WAMR. Please remove WAMR from all battery optimization services.”
Why Are Experts Warning Against WAMR?
According to a report by a security newspaper, cybersecurity experts from the International Institute of Cyber Security (IICS) consider the app risky as it requires access to multiple settings. Once users give access to Gallery, Network, and Notifications, the risk of data leak increases. The report notes that the app is not “malicious,” but access to Notifications could give away any sensitive data.
The report notes it is a security risk as “users who install this app [WAMR] need to grant you extensive permissions, which could compromise data operated by other apps, files stored in the device’s memory, Internet search histories, and even the device users’ contact list.”
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