The privacy trade-offs of cheap Android smartphones
The authors don't know much about cheap smartphones. I examined a cheap Android tablet's ROM dump and it had a backdoor that would allow manufacturer to install any application remotely  and an adware that would activate about 2 weeks after turning the tablet on and show ads above browser window (so that the user thinks that it is an ad from a website).If the user tried to delete adware, the backdoor would reinstall it. The backdoor would not activate if the phone is in China.I downloaded ROM from the link at the manufacturer's website to make sure it is really built-in into the ROM and the tablet was not infected by virus. Either manufacturer or those who made the ROM pre-installed backdoor to earn money from clicking on the ads.Also on a Russian forum about smartphones I saw similar reports about other cheap models.UPD: I googled around and it seems that the backdoor (named Cosiloon) has been found and described by antivirus vendors:- https://news.drweb.com/show/?i=10345&lng=en- https://www.androidauthority.com/cosiloon-malware-android-de...- https://blog.avast.com/android-devices-ship-with-pre-install...When I found it, there was no information about it anywhere.