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Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) expressed concerns about the potential use of smartphone push notifications by foreign governments for espionage.

In a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland, Wyden revealed that his office received information last year indicating that foreign governments might be soliciting records of push notifications from Apple and Google. When approached by Wyden’s office, both companies stated they were restricted by government policy from disclosing such information.

Wyden is urging the Justice Department to remove any constraints preventing Apple and Google from being open about the legal requests they receive from other countries. He emphasized the importance of user awareness regarding government inquiries into their data. Wyden wrote, “Apple and Google should be permitted to be transparent about the legal demands they receive, particularly from foreign governments, just as the companies regularly notify users about other types of government demands for data.” He advocates for these companies to disclose if they have been compelled to support surveillance, to publish statistics on the number of demands received, and to inform specific customers about requests for their data unless legally gagged.

In his letter, Wyden argued that push notifications are handled by the smartphone’s operating system provider, not individual apps, positioning companies like Apple and Google as intermediaries who can store notification data. This unique role could allow them to facilitate government surveillance on app usage. Wyden pointed out that these companies could inform governments about which app received a notification and the associated Apple or Google account.

Responding to these concerns, a Google spokesperson stated, “We were the first major company to publish a public transparency report sharing the number and types of government requests for user data we receive, including the requests referred to by Senator Wyden. We share the Senator’s commitment to keeping users informed about these requests,” highlighting Google’s efforts in transparency regarding government data requests.