My Files > Internal Storage > tencent > beacon > meta.dat

[MomoTheKitten]

I cannot for the life of me figure out what this folder is.
I’ve googled to no avail.
There are no Chinese apps or whatever, no WeChat, and the folder cannot be opened apparently. Can’t find the source of the folder, any help to figure it out is appreciated!

Phone is Samsung Galaxy s6
Non rooted as far as I know

 

[Shotgun84]

Meta data is usually something to do with pictures which show up as album or song art. But it's a letter away from data so I don't know.

 

[Shotgun84]

Although have you selected to show system files? If not then just delete it. It won't brake your phone. An app might not work but then you can just delete and reinstall.

 

[Shotgun84]

Thinking about that, it's not a system app or it would be .tencent

 

[MomoTheKitten]

Although have you selected to show system files? If not then just delete it. It won't brake your phone. An app might not work but then you can just delete and reinstall.

I don’t want to just delete it, I’d like to know the actual source of the folder, very confusing :<

 

[Shotgun84]

Tencent is ironically a Chinese developer. I've just searched tencent on the Play Store and the results were 50/50 in English or Mandarin. The English ones though you could see Tencent. So it's definitely something you've installed so that folder's deleteable. Maybe open every app up after one by one and check after each. When it reappears that's the culprit.

 

[MomoTheKitten]

Tencent is ironically a Chinese developer. I've just searched tencent on the Play Store and the results were 50/50 in English or Mandarin. The English ones though you could see Tencent. So it's definitely something you've installed so that folder's deleteable. Maybe open every app up after one by one and check after each. When it reappears that's the culprit.

That’s the thing... I’ve done the Googling too, and that can’t be it. No new apps installed recently, that I’m aware of. I’ve checked the app list, nothing new or out of the ordinary that I see

 

[Shotgun84]

I never googled though. Open up PlayStore where you get your apps from and then search Tencent. You'll get a lot of results so see if you have any of them.

 

[Shotgun84]

Anyway as I said earlier. Delete the folder and then one by one open every app on your phone. Check to see if the folder has recreated itself after each one. Once it's recreated itself then that's the culprit.

 

[MomoTheKitten]

I never googled though. Open up PlayStore where you get your apps from and then search Tencent. You'll get a lot of results so see if you have any of them.

Apologies but I was not kidding when I said it was NOT the tencent app thing. It is not a new app that has been downloaded, it is not some game app, I’ve already checked, nothing new has been installed..

 

[MomoTheKitten]

Anyway as I said earlier. Delete the folder and then one by one open every app on your phone. Check to see if the folder has recreated itself after each one. Once it's recreated itself then that's the culprit.

It’s a new folder.. no new apps, so I see no reason for it to be an old app that created a new one

 

[Shotgun84]

Sorry but there's so many of them. If you have a tencent file on your phone then it means you've downloaded an app from tencent, ie, that's why the folder's there. Anywho over and out

 

[mikedt]

View attachment 132356 View attachment 132357 View attachment 132358 I cannot for the life of me figure out what this folder is.
I&#8217;ve googled to no avail.
There are no Chinese apps or whatever, no WeChat, and the folder cannot be opened apparently. Can&#8217;t find the source of the folder, any help to figure it out is appreciated!

Phone is Samsung Galaxy s6
Non rooted as far as I know

Not all apps and games show their origins so easily, in fact there's quite a few that go out of their way to hide their country of origin. But tencent &gt; beacon &gt; meta.dat would indicate that you've got something installed that's using Tencent services for ads, data mining, and/or user tracking and monitoring. Tencent does have quite a few subsidiaries that are not in China, but they might be using the parent company data services, e.g. Epic Games, Supercell, etc.

Suggest you post a list of your apps and games, and I might be able give you some ideas, I'm in the PRC and are probably AF's foremost authority about Android in China.

 

[MomoTheKitten]

Not all apps and games show their origins so easily, in fact there's quite a few that go out of their way to hide their country of origin. But tencent &gt; beacon &gt; meta.dat would indicate that you've got something installed that's using Tencent services for ads, data mining, and/or user tracking and monitoring. Tencent does have quite a few subsidiaries that are not in China, but they might be using the parent company data services, e.g. Epic Games, Supercell, etc.

Suggest you post a list of your apps and games, and I might be able give you some ideas, I'm in the PRC and are probably AF's foremost authority about Android in China.

Where should I get the list from?
Since there are a few different places

 

[MomoTheKitten]

Update, whenever the folder shows an updated time of “usage”, I check MyActivity on Google which is supposed to show all phone and app usage (does a good job doing so) yet nothing is there to indicate...

 

[MomoTheKitten]

If you have a tencent file on your phone then it means you've downloaded an app from tencent, ie, that's why the folder's there. Anywho over and out

Checked Google Play, none downloaded

 

[mikedt]

Where should I get the list from?
Since there are a few different places

Suggest lookiing in Settings > App Management > User apps. Do you have any "free" adware apps or games installed?

Because I'm sure you've got something that's got Tencent adware and tracking in it, because that's what that tencent/beacon/meta.dat is. And might not appear to appear to be of Chinese origin, because Tencent is a multi-national, with subsidiaries all over the world, especially Tencent Games. Also other developers may have monetized their apps with Tencent's ad and tracking platform, and are not necessarily Chinese.

 

[MomoTheKitten]

Suggest lookiing in Settings > App Management > User apps. Do you have any "free" adware apps or games installed?

Because I'm sure you've got something that's got Tencent adware and tracking in it, because that's what that tencent/beacon/meta.dat is. And might not appear to appear to be of Chinese origin, because Tencent is a multi-national, with subsidiaries all over the world, especially Tencent Games. Also other developers may have monetized their apps with Tencent's ad and tracking platform, and are not necessarily Chinese.

Will do but also shouldn’t it show up in google myactivity?

 

[irishpup0928]

Hey all ...

Lets just say that ... i am certain of it that YOU ARE NOT THE ONLY ONE asking this about this particular file. i have been trying to unravel the mystery of it myself for YEARS now... this particular folder, and its file contents are no NEW development.. i have found it on every android device which i have had and or currently still have and use...

the *.dat file type is by no means a NEW file. this sort of a file has existed for almost 3 decades... previously such file was typically found being used in the capacity similar to that of an *.ini or other sorts of configuration files. though as the years went on and more new devices have been created, all of which giving our (May or may not reeally be) Evil (this too) Overlords a plethora of new ways to monitor us, and also to distract us from the bigger picture of whats really going on in our even MORE rapidly changing world ...

I personally, delete the damned folder and its file any chance that i see it... it is without a doubt a TRACKING cookie of sorts, it may also be what i have seen in some boards known as a Houdini like backdoor/MITF/exploit ..

i would also like to point out that in the last few cycles of DEFCON and a few other hacker and IT conventions... TENCENT itself had booths at these cons... im not surprised to hear of them at a Tech convention. but what actually caused me a little more of a "hmmmmmmmm" was that they were a HIGHLIGHTED vendor/Participant at DEFCON, and even so at BLACKHAT...


i will leave this convo with a song suggestion to kick off a good happy vibe... and send you off on your merry ways of helping debunk and unravel this travesty of a mystery ... and the pup in me says RUH OH!! RAGGY!! ROINKS




oh yeah the song.. ladys and Gents.. i give you C+C Music Factory