Thousands of smartphone apps in Apple and Google's online stores contain code developed by a technology company called Pushwoosh.
This company is presented as being based in the United States, but is actually Russian, as reported by Reuters on Monday.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the United States' lead agency for combating major health issues, said they were duped into thinking Pushwoosh was based in the US capital.
When Reuters learned of the company's Russian roots, they removed Pushwoosh's software from seven publicly available apps, citing security concerns.
The US military also removed an app containing Pushwoosh code in March due to the same concerns. This application was used by soldiers at one of the country's main combat training bases.
According to company documents filed publicly in Russia and reviewed by Reuters, Pushwoosh is based in the Siberian city of Novosibirsk, where it is registered as a software and data processing company.
It employs about 40 people and reported revenue of 143.270.000 rubles ($2,4 million) last year.
Pushwoosh pays taxes in Russia. However, on social media and in US regulatory filings, it presents itself as a US company, headquartered at various times in California, Maryland and Washington, DC. according to Reuters.
