SHENZHEN, CHINA — Thought Facebook was nosy? Now even checking the weather might put you at the mercy of the Chinese data police.<br /><br />A popular Chinese Android weather app called "Weather Forecast - World Weather Accurate Radar" has been collecting an "unusual amount of data" and subscribing some users to extra paid services without their consent, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal.<br /><br />The app is from Chinese consumer electronics manufacturer TCL Communication Technology Holdings Ltd., which also manufactures Alcatel and Blackberry phones. <br /><br />The suspicious activity was detected by a UK security firm called Upstream Systems.<br /><br />Upstream found the app collects the users' email address, geographic location and international mobile equipment identity, a unique number used to identify mobile phones. <br /><br />The app also secretly subscribed 100,000 of the company's Alcatel users in countries including Brazil, Malaysia and Nigeria to paid virtual-reality services without their consent.<br /><br />The app is also sending data back to servers in China.<br /><br />Upstream stated that had they not reported the surreptitious subscriptions, users may have been forced to pay over $1.5 million for the extra services.<br /><br />The app currently has roughly 10 million downloads and about 45,000 reviews on the Google Play Store app.
