Millions of mobile phones come pre-infected with malware, say researchers

Inappropriate usage of PII can lead to severe consequences in most western countries.

Sure, it's definitely a security risk.

However there is a strong line betweeen a first party spyware that collects data to sell, and the malware discussed in this article, that was specifically places there to try to steal your credit card or banking info for criminals.

I'm fine with legal penalties for the manufacturers in both cases though.

From a security perspective they’re totally different. Malware can be used to perform arbitrary code execution compromise my machine, pivot to my work computer compromise my aws keys, spin up $100k/mon infrastructure to run unrelated scams, syphon down my customer database ransomware it / post it on the dark web.

Telemetry is unlikely to do the above. If it does it gets reclassified as malware. The distinction is valid and useful.

Claiming otherwise is either ignorant in the extreme or deliberately deceptive. Which are you?

The issue is some people have been conditioned into believing software that tracks your every move, restricts freedom to your hardware, and can be easily spied on, are fine as long as they come from [insert company of choice], because it “helps improve the experience”, or even worse, because they “have nothing to hide”.