WhiteLie: A Robust System for Spoofing User Data in Android Platforms by Harish Yadav

Venue: SIT113

Abstract: The Android operating system uses a permission framework that allows users to control access to their private data, such as location and contacts, when using apps. However, many apps become non-functional or crash if denied these permissions, effectively pressuring users to grant access and compromising their privacy. In this paper, we introduce WhiteLie, a robust user data spoofing system designed to protect user privacy by feeding spoofed data to apps without requiring device rooting or binary modification. Through experiments on 70 pre-installed and user-installed Android apps, we demonstrate that WhiteLie successfully spoofs 78.32% of the requested permissions without detection or crashes. Unlike previous methods that involve modifying the Android OS or rebuilding app binaries, WhiteLie operates on non-rooted devices, maintaining full app functionality. Furthermore, WhiteLie is able to bypass continuous authentication mechanisms, which rely on sensor data for ongoing user validation, highlighting critical weaknesses in such security frameworks. Our findings show that WhiteLie effectively mitigates privacy risks from malicious apps, as demonstrated in case studies where it prevented unauthorized data uploads and reduced the success rate of side-channel attacks. Additionally, WhiteLie enhances user control over data privacy in everyday apps like Facebook, where it was used to detect and block unauthorized audio recordings. Despite its powerful capabilities, WhiteLie introduces minimal performance overhead, with only a 2.52% increase in battery consumption and negligible impact on app execution time. WhiteLie proves to be a practical and efficient solution for enhancing user privacy in the Android ecosystem, offering users greater control over their data while ensuring seamless app functionality.

Bio: Harish Yadav(2021CSY7544) is a MSR Student in the Department Of Computer Science & Engineering, IIT Delhi.

He will be defending his thesis before a panel of Professors.