The German technology portal, Mobil Zecher.D, said that the speed test programs (Speed ​​Checker) allow the user to check the speed of the Internet in the home network, and these programs work as applications better on smartphones and tablets, and such applications can be downloaded for free from the application store Google Play.

The portal explained that the way these applications work is for a smartphone or tablet to connect to the measurement server.

A certain amount of data is sent to the server, then this data is returned again, and then the duration of the data transfer process is measured, and then the download and upload rate is calculated.

The portal added that the user may be exposed to a privacy risk if he relies on only good reviews from other users, after the portal tested 14 internet speed test applications for mobile devices equipped with Google Android.

The test results found that despite the good reviews and comments that these applications enjoy in the eyes of other users, they have many flaws in terms of security, privacy and data protection.

The portal indicated that there are problems in 12 of the applications that have been tested.

As these applications collected unnecessary data to perform their functions and transferred it to other parties;

For example, 6 applications have registered the Wireless Network Identification Number (WLAN) to which the device being used is connected.

BSSID data

German experts indicated that applications that collect BSSID data are considered extremely dangerous;

It allows service providers to locate the user without his permission with the possibility of creating databases for this purpose.

And some applications have registered the identification number (IMSI), which is a group of numbers related to the phone card (SIM) included in the mobile device, and these numbers can be used to locate devices, and companies that provide mobile phone services can assign the number to people.

And there is another application that has collected the number of the international mobile subscriber identity (IMEI);

Any mobile device sold worldwide includes this 15-digit number, and technology experts usually classify these two numbers (IMEI) and (IMSI) as sensitive data;

It allows other parties to track a smartphone or tablet, and it can only be changed when the device is changed or the phone card is changed.

Unencrypted internet connection

The German technology portal indicated that some applications have created an unencrypted internet connection, and this unencrypted connection can be used to transfer messages to the device that may request downloading a file or entering login data, and since the messages appear to be coming from the application, they will be more reliable.

The application that appeared well in the German technology portal test is the free and simple application "LibreSpeed" for measuring Internet speed. It comes without additional functionality, is ad-free and open source.