T-Mobile’s T-Life app will record your screen and send details to the company unless you stop it
T-Mobile has a ridiculous feature in its heavily promoted T-Life iPhone app which sends the firm screen recordings without permission, and by default.
T-Mobile is recording its users screens when they use its T-Life app, and has turned on this feature without notice. Importantly, the company says it solely records activity within the T-Life app, so it isn’t capturing other apps and seemingly isn’t recording notifications.
But even if it is solely screen-recording T-Life activity, it is recording personal information. Amongst other details, it is capturing payments information, device tracking, and smart home integration.
According to CNET, the company has responded to a backlash from users by claiming that the unannounced feature is for their own good.
“To help us give customers who use T-Life a smoother experience, we are rolling out a new tool in the app that will help us quickly troubleshoot reported or detected issues,” said a T-Mobile spokesperson. “This tool records activities within the app only and does not see or access any personal information.”
The spokesperson also basically said that if you don’t like it, you can turn it off. But unless a user happens to spend time in their T-Life settings, there was no, and remains no, way for them to know the feature even exists.
Forcing this screen recording on users at all is at best questionable, and especially so since T-Life also has an optional Screen Share feature. That’s meant so that users can elect to show T-Mobile support staff when something is wrong, which is what the company claims this new, extra feature is for.
However, that Screen Share is optional, and off by default. T-Life’s screen recording doesn’t present any option, and by default it’s on.
If T-Mobile is surprised anyone has objected, they need to be reminded of their track record in security. In 2021, hackers got access to data on over 100 million T-Mobile customers.
Then if this is an innocuous attempt to help users, there is the question of just how hard T-Mobile is pushing its T-Life app. It is intended to be one central app for all T-Mobile services, but there is more.
According to The Street, T-Mobile retail staff are allegedly paid a bonus of up to $10 for every customer they persuade to download T-Life. And if the staff fail to meet targets for this, they are said to face unspecified repercussions.
Perhaps T-Mobile just really wants to help its users. But there is exactly no benefit to customers in having their screens secretly recorded.
So T-Mobile users should instead:
- Open the T-Life app
- Tap Manage
- Then tap the Settings gear icon
- Choose Preferences
- Turn off the screen recording tool
It’s not clear when T-Mobile began rolling out this feature, but it appears to be recent. It’s not yet clear whether T-Mobile has any other secret privacy-breaching features.
But then it’s not fully clear how many customers will look to jump ship to Verizon or AT&T.
Apple has not commented on how this breach of user privacy was allowed to pass by its App Review team
